OSHA Forklift Regulations – Employee Forklifting Training
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) has setup different regulations and rules about every industry where forklifts are used. However, they pay the most attention to the training of employees, because quality training will reduce the possibility of accidents. Anyone who wants to operate a forklift is obligated to go through a short forklift training course.
One of the major updates of those regulations was in 1999 when OSHA announced that anyone who is a certified forklift operator prior this year must go through a refresher course. OSHA also recommend that each individual forklift operator goes through a personal refresher course regularly so that he stays in touch with modern industry standards.
Manufacturer Training
There are a couple of ways that an employer can get his employees trained to operate a forklift. The most used one is to send them to a training course which is offered by many dealerships and manufacturers. In some cases the employee just can’t get away from work to attend those courses, so many of these companies offer on-site training sessions.
Train Them Your Self
Many employers prefer to save money from expensive courses and instead train the employees by themselves. In order to do this you must get some training material like DVDs, VHS tapes and different rulebooks from the National Safety Compliance which will point out the most important rules and basics of forklift operating. The videos will allow him to learn the most important skills in operating a forklift. A final quiz is always recommended as it will let you know if the employee has learnt anything from the course. After the quiz is completed, the employee can be certified as a qualified forklift operator.
Avoid Fines
Meaningless which method you choose, you must be sure that it fits the OSHA standards. OSHA fines employers when they find forklift drivers which are not familiar with the latest updates in their regulations. Besides that, you can be sure that if an employee is trained by OSHA standards, he will know the safest ways to operate a forklift and you will be confident with the skills of your employees.
Spend some more time training your employees and your company will suffer from less warehouse damage, less accidents and less risk of damage on different merchandise. The latest OSHA statistics show that tens of thousands forklift operators are annually injured or even killed during forklift accidents. Usually the reason behind these accidents is bad forklift training.
How to become forklift operator – Read more about OSHA forklift training and forklift practice test.
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