The lift truck is a dangerous equipment. The most recent statistics have proven that more than 100 employees are killed in some form of forklift accident. An extra 95,000 workers are injured on the job on an annual basis as well, using these heavy pieces of industrial equipment.
Most fatalities have been because of lift truck turnovers. Being crushed between the forklift and another surface is the second highest percentage of fatalities. The next highest cause of fatality is being struck by the lift truck itself and lastly, getting hit from falling objects due to a dropped load is the last statistic. Every injury or fatality is quite gruesome and terrible due to the immense weight and ability of these machines.
Who Should Perform the Training?
All training and assessment for forklift operation has to be trained by appropriately trained instructors. These trainers should have the knowledge and experience to train potential operators the required skills to assess their competence afterwards. Some examples of a skilled trainer consist of a person who has a certificate, professional status or specialized degree in their possession, or who has extensive training, knowledge and experience with forklifts. A good candidate has lots of practice and has shown the capability to evaluate and train drivers of industrial trucks.
If the employer does not wish to perform the training himself, there are many resources available for them to choose from. For instance, they could employ in local health and safety organizations, like for instance the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are usually local trade and vocational schools which will be really happy to offer several great resources.
There are lots of web sites on the World Wide Web who are committed to lift truck safety. Private businesses could be found on line which offer lift truck safety training services, such as written programs and videos. The majority of safety videos could either be bought or leased or rented. One really important thing to consider is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video on forklift 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 so as to ensure the full training has been acquired.
Once the operator has successfully passed all of the necessary training, a lift truck certificate would be given and they would legally be able to drive a lift truck. Valid forklift certificates are a requirement by organizations in order to keep everybody at the workplace really safe.