Lift trucks are really dangerous machines. Data by OSHA show that approximately 100 warehouse employees are killed every year in forklift accidents while they are operating them. An extra 95,000 employees are injured on the job on an annual basis too, using these heavy pieces of industrial machinery.
Most fatalities have been due to lift truck 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 lift truck itself and last but not least, getting hit from falling items because of a dropped load is the last statistic. Each and every fatality or injury is quite gruesome and awful because of the immense weight and ability of these machinery.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All teaching and assessment for lift truck operation needs to be trained by properly trained instructors. These trainers should have the experience and knowledge to teach potential operators the necessary skills to evaluate their competence after that. Several examples of a skilled trainer consist of a person who has a license, professional standing or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, knowledge and experience using forklifts. A good candidate has plenty of practice and has shown the capability to assess and teach operators of industrial trucks.
There are resources accessible 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 usually local vocational and trade schools which would be happy to offer several great resources.
There are many websites on the World Wide Web who are committed to forklift safety. Private businesses could be found on-line who offer lift truck safety training services, such as written programs and videos. Most safety videos can either be purchased or rented or leased. One very vital thing to take into consideration is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video about lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and skill of the new operators must be conveyed and evaluated by a particular method so as to ensure the full training has been acquired.
Once drivers have passed their training requirements, they will be given 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 everybody at the workplace as safe as possible.