Operator Training and workers’ development can be the responsibility of the HR Department or Plant Department. In a large company, they may have dedicated section or branch tasked to supply safety related matters, the department is called Health and Safety (HSE) Department. The HSE or simply Safety is consist of different professionals, from safety assistant, safety officer, to department manager. The department has also its own trainer to conduct necessary forklift training every now and then when needed.
In a small company, forklift training is the responsibility of a supervisor or leader, either it is part of the person’s job or as his actual and sole responsibility. When the manpower of the company increased to more than a hundred, at this point, employer will establish a section, due to the reason that the demand for the training is becoming frequent, thus, employer will develop its own safety program to cater for all the employees not only for forklift operators.
Safety program refers to integrated use materials, knowledge and resources of the company to improve the prospect of the employees to become aware of the safety of himself and of people around while at work. As company grows in terms of manpower, it will recognize the important need of employee development, part of this is safety. The training does not only envelops forklift operator safety, but it does cover many facets and aspects of the organization.
The reporting relationship between the trainer and manager or head varies across different organization. Some organizations include training as part of the HR functions because HR provide solid relationship with other departments of the company. They have the capacity to write training curriculum for different courses and gauge the employees’ ability and knowledge through aptitude test administration. The HR, being the central part of the organization, they best make the use of training resources and helps to communicate with other departments through vertical or horizontal communication.
Other companies, separate the training away from the responsibility of the HR. It allows the training function to be dispersed to better answer and cater to the unique needs of the workers, especially those involved in operation of heavy equipments. The manager of the training department regularly reported to the company’s management to assess the continuous need of the safety program, determine at what corner of the program to be prioritized, and determine if the safety program is effective.
Do you know supervisory personnel, is a trainer some point of their career. Consider the last time you had delivered a presentation to your colleagues. When was it? Did you know you are a trainer to be called by just simply delivering your presentation. Although some personnel learned training through trial and error, the best way is to get a course about professional and effective training delivery. To be a successful training professional, it will require you to be up to date on current research training practices. And Regardless of the organizational approach used for the training function, having a professional who is solely responsible for application of the training, it will meet the training needs of the company.
