Lift trucks are extremely dangerous piece of machinery. Statistics by OSHA show that around 100 warehouse workers are killed every year in lift truck accidents while they are operating them. 95,000 more employees are hurt on the job each and every year too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Most fatalities have been due to forklift turnovers. Being crushed between the lift truck and another surface is the next highest percentage of fatalities. The third highest cause of death is being struck by the forklift itself and lastly, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each death or injury is quite terrible and gruesome because of the immense weight and capability of these machines.
Who Should Conduct the Training?
All teaching and assessment for forklift operation has to be taught by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers must have the experience and knowledge to train potential operators the necessary skills to assess their competence after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer consist of an individual who has a license, specialized degree or professional status in their possession, or someone who has extensive training, experience and knowledge utilizing lift trucks. A good candidate has plenty of experience and has demonstrated the ability to train and evaluate industrial truck operators.
If the employer does not wish to perform the training himself, there are numerous resources available for them to pick from. Like for instance, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, like the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private teaching consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local trade and vocational schools which will be very happy to provide several great resources.
There are lots of websites on the Internet who are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private businesses can be found online which provide forklift safety training services, such as videos and written programs. The majority of safety videos could either be rented or leased or bought. One really vital factor to take into consideration is that simply by showing your employees a series of videos or a video on forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and skill of the new operators should be conveyed and evaluated by a specific method in order to make sure that the full training has been acquired.
Once the operator has successfully passed all of the necessary training, a lift truck license will be given and they will legally be able to operate a lift truck. Valid lift truck licenses are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace as safe as possible.