There are a range of vital steps in forklift training which concern specially to forklift safety. To begin with, it is really important to make sure that all workers have been properly trained and certified to utilize the machinery. This is a huge piece of equipment which we are talking about. You just cannot take chances with it. Lift truck training is important business which should be taken seriously. If you decide to skip this process, extreme results can ultimately catch up with you. Allowing inexperienced and improperly taught people to drive lift trucks could cause severe damage, very bad injuries and even fatality.
Make it a standard company guideline to always use seatbelts, all the time, no matter what. This is a simple subject which workers usually become lax about, especially since the machinery is only traveling 10 miles an hour. Workers often assume that they would not have any kind of problem and therefore, start not wearing them. This is where the danger can occur, because it is easy for an accident to happen that can have devastating consequences. This is not a truck or an automobile; the seatbelt is not essential to hold them inside the cab if they run into something. In a lift truck, the purpose is a lot more important, even though the equipment travels at low speeds, in case of a tip-over, the seatbelt holds the operator in place secure in the operator's seat so they will not stumble out and be accidentally crushed underneath.
In the event of any mechanical issues or problems, a well-organized reporting system needs to be implemented. Workers need a rational way to communicate these situations so that people who are responsible for fixing them will. Workers should be familiar enough with the machine that they understand at least the essentials of what could go wrong.
A driver needs to be able to detect if there is a problem with the forklift so as to rectify it before it becomes a huge and possibly risky or expensive issue. Having a reliable reporting system in place is very important for workplaces that run on shift work. For instance, if one driver is having a problem and he leaves, and the secondary operator is unaware of the issue during his shift, then terrible situations could happen. Lift truck training is much more involved than just learning just how to use the machine.
It doesn't matter if an employee feels that the equipment is overturning, instruct your workers to never jump out of a lift truck. The right thing to do in this dicey situation is to lean away from the turn while staying inside the cab and tightly holding on.