The forklift is a dangerous equipment. The newest statistics have shown that more than 100 workers are killed in some form of lift truck accident. 95,000 more workers are injured on the job each year as well, using these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
Unfortunately, most of the fatalities are due to lift truck turnovers. The next highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a lift truck and another surface. The third highest cause of death is being struck by the forklift itself and last but not least, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each injury or fatality is quite awful and gruesome because of the immense weight and ability of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All teaching and evaluation for lift truck operation needs to be trained by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers should have the experience and knowledge to train potential operators the required skills to assess their competence afterwards. Several examples of a qualified trainer consist of a person who has a certificate, certified degree or professional standing in their possession, or who has extensive training, knowledge and experience utilizing forklifts. A good candidate has a lot of experience and has demonstrated the capability to assess and teach industrial truck operators.
There are resources accessible to pick from if their employer does not want to perform the training themselves. Like for instance, they could employ in local health and safety organizations, like for instance the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private teaching consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local vocational and trade schools which would be really happy to provide some great resources.
There are many web sites on the World Wide Web who are devoted to lift truck safety. Private companies can be found online who provide lift truck safety training services, like videos and written programs. The majority of safety videos can either be purchased or leased or rented. One important thing to consider is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video about forklift safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Subsequent training and skill of the new operators has to be conveyed and assessed by a particular method so as to ensure the complete training has been obtained.
Once the operator has successfully passed all of the necessary training, a lift truck certificate will be given and they would legally be able to operate a forklift. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations so as to keep everybody at the workplace as safe as possible.