Who Can Perform Such Forklift Retraining?
Forklift refresher training and certification must only be performed by a qualified instructor who has the necessary knowledge and can deliver the course effectively. This competent person would be someone with a degree or certificate, or who has professional status or has extensive experience.
He could either be an internal safety trainer, who was hired to perform such tasks and implement safety policies of the company, or an instructor from an outside source. The employer can hire a competent instructor from the private training school to perform the refresher course on site.
When Do You Need a Refresher Course?
There are many instances and factors that contribute to forklift operators to take refresher training. The refresher course must be administered when one or several of these factors are exhibited by forklift operators:
- When operators are observed horseplaying with the forklift. This childish act must be corrected. This is classified as an unsafe manner and could lead to serious accidents. (example: racing the truck, letting someone to ride on the forks, playing a prank with the operator by jumping on its direction, distracting the operator by throwing an object at the driver, standing on the overhead guard, throttling the machine too hard, the intentional dropping of load, performing exhibition near people, and many other unsafe manners that could lead to an accident.)
- The occurrence of minor incidents may be normal in a heavy-traffic work environment. What’s not normal is when a simple mistake resulted in a serious situation. In this case, the forklift operators must be retrained whenever they are involved in any case of an accident. The refresher training must be conducted in the soonest possible time, in as much as possible, all operators in the workplace, not only those involved, must attend the lecture for them to learn lessons from to prevent a repetition of accident.
- If near-misses happened that lead to property damage or accident. Many of these cases have not been reported due to the simplicity of the incident. But these kinds of things must be monitored and reported to the superior. The trainer can consolidate all of these incidents and can be included in the next lecture.
- There could be one or two spoiled potatoes in the basket, remember that. This is true because not all forklift operators who have been certified are performing to expectation. If you observed their unruly behaviors, then you can send them to a refresher course. Do not wait until the next accident happens.
- There are many instances when forklift operators may be assigned in other shifts and operate other types of trucks they're not familiar with. Different machines have different operational controls. Before letting the operator drives another forklift, refresher training must be given to him.
- There are seasons of the year when there will be lots of materials going in and out of the workplace. In this case, the forklift operators must be given retraining to tackle the workplace-specific issues.
- OSHA standard requires that operators must be evaluated at least once every three years. Recertification must be given to measure their skills. Have they maintained their knowledge about forklift operation and safety? The employer is solely responsible for providing refresher courses to the fleet.
Are Your Operators Due For Retraining
If the answer is yes, why not give them an online retraining course? It is fast and convenient!
If you are looking to get this, here is what we recommend:
This training course is compliant with the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178, ANSI B56.1, and CSA B335-15 standards.
Training certificates and wallet-size operator cards will be given upon successful completion of the course.
Where Can the Refresher Training Be Conducted?
Involved forklift drivers could be sent to the training school to receive the course.
The employer schedules and enrolls them in such a course. However, this method has its disadvantages for the employer. Production may suffer for the obvious reason no one will man the machine to meet production quota.
For the part of the employer, additional expenses may incur for the drivers’ enrollment. The employer also needs to pay the wages of the operators even when they are away from work.
The most effective mean of refresher training delivery is when it is done on-site.
The training doesn’t have to be in a classroom or someplace neat. The training can be given anywhere in the warehouse.
With this manner, the trainer can modify the training curriculum to cater for the need of the operators, mitigate risk about the condition of the warehouse, correct bad behavior of the operators, given lectures on the types of trucks being used, rectify the mistakes, near misses, accidents, and other minor incidents, are important to correct to prevent the repetition of these can lead to more grave danger.
Hiring an External Trainer Vs. Appointing a Team Member
There are great deals of advantages having a company trainer that can be called to do forklift refresher training. If you are seeking the long term advantages, then I greatly advise you to appoint someone from your organization as an internal forklift trainer. Here are disadvantages of hiring from an outside source:
Disadvantages of Outsider:
- Expensive – you need to call the trainer every time you need their services.
- Time-consuming – you need to make a training schedule and appointment with the trainer. Prior to this, the process of sending communication for an appointment consumes time and effort from your part.
- There might be some instances that you need to send the operators to the trainer’s facility instead of them coming to your workplace. It can halt production, incur more expenses by paying the driver’s wages even they are not at work.
- The delivery of the training will be delayed especially when the employer cannot make a training appointment/schedule. What if OSHA inspectors visited your site, and the employer cannot give proof of training compliance.
Advantages of having an internal trainer:
- He can deliver training in the soonest possible time.
- He can tailor the type of course to suit the current condition of the workplace, the type of trucks being used, and the behavior of the operators.
- The training will be much less expensive.
- He can easily comply with OSHA requirements. Thus, you can avoid fines and penalties that can cost thousands of dollars.
- Can alleviate danger by executing a risk analysis.
- Communication and orders can easily be implemented from superiors.
- And many others.
I see no disadvantages to having an internal instructor.
Final Word
You can someone from the group to take the train-the-trainer certification to become a certified trainer. You can send him to a private training company.
Forklift refresher training can be your ally in mitigating the risk, danger involving the forklift operation. It should be part of the training routine, safety policies, and company standard.
image source: buytruckgear.com, forkliftcertify.com
