WAREHOUSING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS TOYOTA MATERIAL HANDLING
Trained fork truck operators lift safety standards and lower business costs
Improved forklift safety, lower running costs and reduced operator training will bring to a business, says Nick Faulkner, training tanager of Toyota Material Handling UK
recent years, the number of serious forklift- related incidents recorded in the UK remains stubbornly high at around 1,500 every year. Indeed, if you type ‘forklift truck accident’ into
W
your search engine you’ll get a seemingly endless list of links to stories that highlight the injuries suffered by workers when the materials handling equipment that they had been operating or were working close to was not operated safely and correctly. Workplace accidents often come with a huge
physical and psychological cost for the victim and their family, and any employee or employer found to have contributed through their negligent attitude to workplace safety can expect to receive a stiff penalty. When, for instance, the action – or, more
usually, the failure to act – of an irresponsible employer is considered likely to have been the main contributor to a serious workplace accident, a charge of criminal negligence can be brought against the ‘duty holder’. The ‘duty holder’ is usually a director of the company or a member of its senior management team and in extreme cases, this person can be sent to prison if the company has fallen critically short in its ‘duty of care’ obligations to its staff. Generally, however, the punishment handed
down by the courts to a company or individual deemed responsible for a forklift-related now stands at nearly £98,000. Plus, of course, compensation claims arising from the incident will
TRAINING IS KEY Given that most lift truck related mishaps tend to be a result of operator error, the management and training of drivers is clearly vital if the risk of
36 November 2024 Irish Manufacturing
hile the rate of fatal workplace accidents involving a lift tuck has been on a downward trend in
an incident is to be minimized.
• Basic training which covers the fundamental skills and knowledge required to operate a lift
understanding of the operating principles and controls of the lift truck – or trucks – that they use and how it will be employed in their workplace; and
• Familiarisation training which applies what has been learnt, under normal working conditions – ‘on the job’
but should always take place away from the warehouse environment, while familiarisation training must be done ‘on the job’, under close supervision.
While there are many issues which will impact upon the speed at which everyone Operators with some experience of lift trucks
or relevant experience of similar vehicles may need less extensive training than those with no experience, however it should be remembered that an operator with basic training on one type of lift truck or handling attachment cannot safely operate others on which they have not been trained without additional conversion training. Good training not only produces safer forklift
more effectively throughout their shift. For accidental damage to the truck, goods and the infrastructure of the building caused by a careless operator is reduced. And by driving in a professional way an
operator puts less strain on the truck’s engine and other essential components, so truck minimised. A truck that is driven carefully also And, yet, despite the substantial advantages
www.irish-manufacturing.com
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