Department of Labor statistics show that employers lose nearly 20,000 workdays each year from employee injuries sustained on or around forklifts. Even more alarming, one hundred people lose their lives each year in forklift-related accidents. One way to help prevent these accidents is to train all operators on the hazards associated with forklifts and evaluate each operator's performance on a regular basis.
According to OSHA, operator training must occur before an employee is permitted to operate any forklift. Training should consist of a combination of formal instruction (e.g., lecture, discussion, videotape), practical training (demonstrations performed by the trainer and practical exercises performed by the trainee) and evaluation of the operator's performance.
Knowledgeable and experienced employees should be the only employees permitted to conduct training and evaluations. Forklift safety videos can also be used as a training tool, if an experienced employee is available to answer questions regarding the video's content.
OSHA requires forklift training sessions to be documented with the name of the trainee, name of the trainer and the date of training.
An OSHA compliant forklift training session includes topics related to forklifts and the workplace.
Forklift-related topics include:
Workplace-related topics include:
Refresher training should be provided to a forklift operator when the operator is observed operating in an unsafe manner, is involved in an accident or near-hit incident, receives an unsatisfactory evaluation or is assigned to a different type of forklift. Refresher training should also occur any time a condition in the workplace changes and affects safe operation of the forklift.
OSHA requires that an evaluation of each forklift operator's performance be conducted at least once every three years. This evaluation should include a discussion with the operator regarding their experience with the forklift, an observation of the employee operating the forklift and written documentation that the evaluation was performed. Many companies use a checklist to complete the operator evaluation. A checklist could include items such as:
Be sure to document all operator evaluations, including the name of the operator, the date of the evaluation and the name of the person performing the evaluation.