Top Reasons Why A Forklift Driver Requires Training.

If you think that training your forklift driver is not essential or important enough then think again. If you were to look at the statistics provided by the US Bureau of Labor then you would soon see just how important training your drivers to operate a forklift properly is essential to not only their safety and welfare but the safety and welfare of other employees in your business.

According to the statistics provided by the US Bureau of Labor that of the accidents that have occurred involving forklift trucks 100 workers have been killed and 20,000 other workers have been injured. Certainly the most common causes of the fatalities that occur involving forklift trucks are as follows:-

  • 22% were killed when the forklift overturned.
  • 20% were pedestrians who were killed when hit by the truck.
  • 16% of all fatalities occur when either the driver or pedestrian are crushed by the vehicle.
  • 9% of all fatalities relate to drivers actually falling from their trucks.

So because of these inherent dangers relating to forklift trucks and their use the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in the USA governs their use and safety under code 29 CFR 1910.178. It is them who will inspect all vehicles and their use to see if any violations of this coding is being broken.

In the previous year the OSHA found that upon inspection of businesses they were causing 3,115 violations in relation to safety matters relating to forklift truck use. The main violations that were noted by the OSHA included the following:-

1. Failure by the company to ensure that each forklift driver was competent enough to actually operate the machine safely. In fact 568 violations were noted in relation to this one.

2. Failure by a company to obtain certification of each operator of their forklift trucks to show that they have been trained and evaluated for this specific task. During the year 399 violations were noted in respect of this matter.

3. Failure by the company at removing those vehicles from use when they have become damaged. It was noted that 350 violations took place in relation to this safety issue.

4. A total of 251 violations were noted in regard to some company's not actually providing their forklift drivers with additional or refresher training as well as their drivers being reevaluated to see if they are still competent to operate the vehicle.

It should therefore come as no surprise to you that training is essential. By training your forklift driver to operate the machine correctly will help to prevent accidents as well as the possibility of someone dying from occurring within your business.

Forklift Warehouse