Lift trucks are extremely dangerous piece of machinery. Data by OSHA prove that roughly 100 warehouse workers are killed every year in lift truck accidents while they are utilizing them. An additional 95,000 employees are injured on the job on a yearly basis too, utilizing these heavy pieces of industrial machines.
Unfortunately, nearly all of the fatalities are because of forklift turnovers. The second highest percentage of fatalities is due to being crushed between a lift truck and another surface. The next highest cause of death 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 death or injury is quite terrible and frightening because of the immense weight and capability of these equipment.
Who Must Conduct the Training?
All assessment and training has to be trained by people who have the right training, knowledge and experience to teach powered industrial truck drivers the right skills and then to evaluate their competency after that. Some examples of a skilled trainer comprise an individual who has a certificate, certified degree or professional status in their possession, or who has extensive training, experience and knowledge using forklifts. A good candidate has lots of experience and has demonstrated the capability to evaluate and train drivers of industrial trucks.
If the employer does not want to perform the training himself, there are many resources available for them to pick from. Like for example, they could hire in local health and safety organizations, including the National Safety Council local chapters, truck manufacturers, or private training consultants who specialize in powered industrial trucks. There are normally local trade and vocational schools which will be really happy to offer some great resources.
There are lots of web sites on the Internet who are dedicated to lift truck safety. Private companies can be found on-line which offer forklift safety training services, such as videos and written programs. Most safety videos can either be purchased or leased or rented. One vital thing to consider is that simply by showing your workers a series of videos or a video on lift truck safety, does not meet the full requirements of the OSHA standard. Succeeding training and skill of the new drivers must be conveyed and assessed by a particular method so as to make certain that the full training has been obtained.
When the operator has successfully passed all of the required training, a forklift certificate will be issued and they would legally be able to drive a lift truck. Valid lift truck certificates are a requirement by organizations to be able to keep everyone at the workplace really safe.