One of the tenets of safety in the workplace is training. Especially where we’re talking about industrial settings, there is an abject need for professionals to be sufficiently trained. A good example of this is forklift driver training, and without adequate training workers shouldn’t be allowed to operate forklifts.
It is important to understand that forklifts trucks are heavy, industrial machinery. They are used to transport heavy materials in industrial or commercial settings. Because of this, there is an inherent danger with using these vehicles.
The nature of this danger is that heavy material or the forklift itself can topple thereby crushing workers, or the forklift operative. If a forklift driver isn’t sufficiently trained in how they use a forklift, then they pose a direct risk to other workers and themselves.
Forklifts are considered so dangerous because forklift accidents often lead to very serious injury or even death. In fact, some reports suggest that as many as 85% of forklift accidents result in fatality.
Whilst there is a responsibility on the workplace to ensure that a forklift is safe to be used, safe usage of the forklift is the responsibility of the forklift operative. This also means that a forklift that is not in use needs to be rendered safe, i.e. switched off.
Driver training courses that focus on forklift driver training can not only be a great opportunity in terms of new skills and career prospects, but also in terms of the overall safety of the industrial workplace.
