Lift trucks are extremely dangerous piece of machinery. Statistics by OSHA prove that approximately 100 warehouse employees are killed each and every year in forklift mishaps while they are using them. 95,000 more workers are injured on the job on an annual basis as well, using these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Most fatalities have been because of lift truck turnovers. Being crushed between the forklift and another surface is the next highest percentage of fatalities. The third highest cause of fatality is being struck by the forklift itself and lastly, getting hit from falling items due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each fatality or injury is quite gruesome and awful because of the ability and immense weight of these equipment.
Who Must Conduct the Training?
All evaluation and training has to be trained by people who have the proper education, knowledge and experience to train powered industrial truck drivers the correct skills and then to assess their competence after that. Several examples of a skilled trainer comprise an individual who has a license, professional status or specialized degree in their possession, or someone who has extensive training, knowledge and experience using lift trucks. A good candidate has a lot of experience and has demonstrated the capability to evaluate and train industrial truck operators.
There are resources accessible to choose from if their employer does not wish to perform the training themselves. Like for example, they can hire in local health and safety organizations, like the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local vocational and trade schools that will be very glad to offer some great resources.
The internet is full of web sites devoted to the safety of lift trucks. There are also private companies which offer forklift safety training services, such as videos and written programs. The majority of safety videos can either be rented or leased or purchased. One very important thing to take into account is that simply by showing your employees a video or a series of videos about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and knowledge of the new operators should be conveyed and evaluated by a specific method so as to ensure the full training has been obtained.
Once the driver has successfully passed all of the required training, a forklift license will be issued and they would legally be able to operate a lift truck. Valid lift truck licenses are a requirement by organizations so as to keep everybody at the workplace really safe.