Lift trucks are extremely dangerous machines. Data by OSHA show that approximately 100 warehouse workers are killed every year in forklift mishaps while they are using them. An additional 95,000 employees are hurt on the job each and every year as well, using these heavy pieces of industrial equipment.
Sadly, most of the fatalities are because of lift truck turnovers. The second highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a lift truck and another surface. The next highest cause of fatality is being struck by the lift truck itself and lastly, getting hit from falling items due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every death or injury is quite gruesome and terrible because of the capability and immense weight of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All assessment and teaching has to be trained by people who have the proper education, knowledge and experience to teach powered industrial truck drivers the correct skills and then to evaluate their competency after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer comprise a person who has a license, specialized degree or professional status in their possession, or someone who has extensive training, knowledge and experience using lift trucks. A good candidate has a lot of practice and has shown the ability to train and assess industrial truck operators.
There are resources accessible to pick from if their employer does not wish to perform the training themselves. For example, they could employ in local health and safety organizations, like truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private teaching consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local vocational and trade schools that would be very glad to offer several great resources.
There are many web sites on the World Wide Web who are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private companies could be found on-line who provide forklift safety training services, like videos and written programs. The majority of safety videos could either be leased or rented or bought. One very vital thing to take into account is that simply by showing your employees a series of videos or a video on lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and knowledge of the new operators has to be conveyed and evaluated by a particular way in order to make certain that the full training has been acquired.
When operators have passed their training requirements, they will receive a lift truck license which enables them to operate a forklift. Valid forklift licenses are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everyone at the workplace as safe as possible.