Around a million forklifts are in regular use at businesses all around the USA, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) government body devote plenty of energy to ensuring these are used and maintained correctly. Unfortunately, forklifts can be dangerous, and at least 10% of all forklifts in use will be involved in an accident in any one year. A quarter of these being blamed on inadequate driver training.

Obviously, neither employer or employee want to be involved in this kind of incident, which at best leads to lost profits, serious legal costs, loss of orders and/or goods damaged during the incident and hiked up insurance costs, to at worst injury or the loss of life of the operator or a pedestrian.

The obvious and essential action that needs taking is for employers to make sure all of the staff who will be expected to use forklifts are trained to a very high standard, and in turn this means sourcing and engaging top class forklift driver trainers.

Excellent training is the backbone to forklift safety, and many employers will happily send their staff on a random course they have found online, and chosen due to it being, say, affordable and convenient. Sadly though, not all courses are as good as you may expect.

Keeping in mind the fact that it is an employer’s responsibility to make sure all staff operating forklift vehicles are trained (and capable). In situations where say there’s a lot of staff turnover, or large numbers of forklift operators are employed, it is more than likely that employing one (or more) dedicated forklift trainers proves to be not just better value for money, but also a great way of making sure consistently high levels of training are being delivered.

There’s no question that all staff must be trained before attempting to operate a forklift, and to have any value this training must be conducted by people who are competent at both the practical and classroom elements of the task, are able to properly evaluate the achievements of learners, and have no issues tackling any hiccups head-on. This cannot be successfully achieved by offering a passive learning option such as watching a video on the topic.

A worthwhile employee forklift training course should be at least two days long and delivered in line with clear and strict criteria which can fairly measure both a learner’s abilities, and their progress. The training should include a good, balanced mix of theory and hands-on learning, have no more than 10 students to one instructor to make sure they all get adequate support, and include all materials used during the training (for no extra charge.)

OSHA rules and guidelines are clear on the need for forklift operators to be trained by someone who has an extensive amount of knowledge, training and experienced themselves, so this is a decision which is going to take some time and effort.

If you want to get the best possible training for your staff it’s crucial you choose a forklift trainer who has all the skills necessary to make that happen or you can visit this site  https://www.forklifttrainingsystems.com/train-the-trainer/. This can be a tall order sometimes, and is a major reason why, if it is at all possible, that you employ someone dedicated to doing this job. Perhaps you have staff already on board who you know well enough to make this kind of job offer too?

Take a look at this checklist for a guide to the qualities you are looking for.

· Be really motivated and keen to do a good job day in and day out.

· Be able to communicate well with others, especially verbally.

· Ideally already be familiar with or established in, your company.

· Have an impeccable safety record.

· Have a good amount of forklift operating experience.

· Be able to tackle inappropriate behavior/rule-breaking.

· Be well organized.

· Have proven themselves as capable of managing others well.

· Have basic computing skills.

· Preferably have some form of coaching experience (in any field).

When you have identified one or more candidate from your workforce who are ideal for forklift trainer training it’s time to find a company able to deliver a well-reviewed and meaningful forklift train the trainer course. A good training provider will offer train the trainer courses which:

· Are much more than a pass/fail class. Instead, the workload should be rigorous and comprehensive.

· Delivers content based around OSHA forklift training standards.

· Provides the knowledge and opportunities necessary for participants to be able to survey their own work-sites and forklift drivers so they can troubleshoot any area which need either some tweaking or serious attention, for safety purposes.

· Run with classes small enough to allow the leaders to properly supervise and support every learner as needed.

· Runs for at least two full days and are very intensive in nature. The leaders should be experienced and always able to educate but also boost the confidence of their learners, inspiring them to retain and be able to put into action the things they are studying. Ultimately, of course, this helps make sure workplaces nationwide are safer for both forklift and pedestrian employees alike.

· Provide the student forklift trainer with the ability to set up and conduct regular safety audits in their own workplace.

There’s little doubt that any business which employs lots of forklift drivers should seriously consider having some dedicated members of their team attend an excellent forklift trainer certification course offered by experts, so they can take care of all their company’s initial and ongoing training and assessment needs.