FORKLIFT TRUCK SAFETY TRAINING

The Independent Fork lift Truck Association (FLTA) has circulated a list of industries, which have the most improved record of forklift accidents and also the worst accident record.
Warehousing & Storage sector has a massive improvement of 80% over the past 10 years, still no room for complacency.
The road freight has had an increase of 237% which means it has moved from being the fifth worst seven years ago to now being the worst industry for forklift accidents in the UK.
These figures only represent those, which have been reported to HSE under RIDDOR resulting in three or more days off work, they do not include all the near misses, smaller incidents or those that just were not reported. The HSE believes non-fatal injuries are substantially under-reported, meaning the true accident toll could actually be much higher.
Forklift truck accidents can and often do cause serious injury and sometimes are fatal, managers have a legal and moral duty to ensure safe working systems, good equipment and proper training are in place.
No one should ever operate a Forklift truck if they have not received training and are competent to operate the forklift safely.
When the pressure is on and deadlines fast approaching, drivers often take short cuts, which is when accidents happen, with very costly and serious consequences.
It is recommended that all forklift operators receive a one-day refresher-training course at least every three years or sooner following an accident or near miss.
Refreshing training identifies and corrects any bad habits picked up during the working environment, and reinforces vital health and safety requirements and updates operators on any new legalisation and guidance. Thus making the operator a much safer fork lift driver, safe drivers have fewer accidents and work more efficiently which in the long terms saves companies money and people’s lives.
Do not risk lives, get proper training for all your fork lift drivers.