The forklift is a dangerous equipment. The most recent statistics have proven that over 100 employees are killed in some type of lift truck mishap. 95,000 more employees are hurt on the job each and every year too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
Unfortunately, most of the fatalities are due to forklift turnovers. The second highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a forklift and another surface. The next highest cause of fatality is being struck by the forklift itself and last of all, getting hit from falling things due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every death or injury is quite terrible and frightening because of the immense weight and ability of these machines.
Who Must Perform the Training?
All teaching and assessment for lift truck operation has to be taught by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers must have the knowledge and experience to train potential operators the required skills to evaluate their competency afterwards. Several examples of a qualified trainer comprise an individual who has a license, professional standing or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge utilizing forklifts. A good candidate has plenty of experience and has demonstrated the ability to assess and train industrial truck drivers.
There are resources available to pick from if their employer does not wish to perform the training themselves. For instance, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, like truck manufacturers, the National Safety Council local chapters, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local trade and vocational schools that would be really glad to provide some great resources.
There are lots of sites on the World Wide Web which are dedicated to forklift safety. Private businesses can be found on line that offer lift truck safety training services, such as written programs and videos. Most safety videos can either be rented or leased or purchased. One really vital factor to consider is that simply by showing your employees a video or a series of videos about lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and knowledge of the new operators must be conveyed and assessed by a particular way in order to make certain that the complete training has been obtained.
When drivers have passed their training requirements, they will receive a lift truck certificate which permits them to operate a lift truck. Valid lift truck licenses are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everyone at the workplace as safe as possible.