We hope you’re having a great summer! Here’s a list of topics that we’ll be covering:
- Are your forklift operators fully trained?
- New Fall Protection Training Programs!
- A question on hand held horns.
- What’s your trainer IQ?
- Last chance programs.
- What’s Wrong With This? Photo and answer.
- Interesting article links.
- Incident reports.
Check it out, we made the cover of Lift and Access magazine! That’s IVES’ Director of Training, Rob Vetter on the front cover leading a group of Compliance Officers through an aerial lifts orientation. Think your company’s supervisors could benefit from an equipment orientation? Contact us today!
Are Your Forklift Operators Fully Trained?
While touring a large retail warehouse recently, I spotted something that motivated me to ask our tour guide about the training their forklift operators received. She went into great detail with an obvious sense of pride about the operator training program in place at the facility and their efforts at maintaining it on an ongoing basis beyond the completion of initial training. For the most part, her pride was well deserved; they had it covered from initial through refresher and upgrade training, and they even had a system in place that picked up remedial training when incidents and/or near-miss incidents occurred.
When I asked her how the operators’ fall protection training was handled she stared at me in silence for an uncomfortably long period, as the others in the tour group did, and finally asked why on earth forklift operators would need fall protection. I answered her by reporting what I spotted earlier, which was a fall protection harness connected and self-retracting lanyard (SRL) left attached to the anchor point of an order-picker (see photo), presumably by the last operator to use it. This is a real no-no in the fall protection world, at least in my humble opinion. I won’t go into detail on the conversation (or lack thereof) between myself and the tour guide from that point on. Suffice to say that fall protection training had not made it onto the agenda for their order picker operators. However, this experience raised a larger issue; certain forklift operators at this particular location were not being fully trained for the type of equipment they were using.
An order picker is a unique machine that straddles the defining line between powered industrial trucks (forklifts) and aerial lifts in that this hybrid machine is not only used as a materials handler, but as a personnel elevating device as well. This is because when the forks are raised on an order-picker, the platform on which the operator stands also rises with them. Since the platform is not enclosed by guardrails, operators must use a personal fall protection system and the popular choice is a full body harness connected to a self-retracting lanyard.
The fall protection world is an extremely broad and far reaching one and, in context, the amount of training needed for an order picker operator is a sliver of what a construction worker on a tower erection crew might have to receive. However, regardless of the application, any worker who is required to work at height must receive fall protection training that, at the very least, provides the user with the knowledge and ability to correctly select, inspect, don, use and store his or her fall protection equipment properly in addition to all the training required to operate the forklift properly.
The amount of fall protection training required varies but in any case, it is well worth the time to check occupational safety and health regulatory requirements in your region to find out what is needed. Some regulatory jurisdictions have relatively stringent requirements compared to others but they all require something. Considering the high placement that fall-related incidents regularly receive year over year in every statistical category that matters such as, injuries, fatalities, citations and overall incidents, you can imagine the priority that regulatory authorities give to fall protection training and such if they ever have occasion to find themselves at your workplace. Given the tragic toll that fall-related incidents take annually in workplaces all over the world, the priority given to their prevention is certainly not misplaced so if you use order pickers, I strongly suggest that you give it some priority too.
Rob Vetter
Director of Training
IVES Training Group
New! Fall Protection Training
We are now offering End-User Fall Protection Training Programs that will give you an understanding of the use of fall protection as it relates to the work you perform at height. We will teach you which fall protection options best meet your needs and give you the tools and knowledge to work at height safely. This program includes hands-on activities, video analysis and student participation.
We have two program offerings, a Standard Program for general training or Basic Training Program specifically for aerial lift operators. These fall protection classes will be offered at select locations, but can also be delivered on-site at your company’s location.
View our program calendar here or call 1-800-643-1144 for more details.
Ask Bob
Q: Can a handheld air horn be used in place of a non-working horn on a forklift?
A: That is a very good question. The relevant ANSI standard states the unit must be equipped with an audible device so I suppose a handheld horn would do it. I would just make sure that the operator doesn’t actually have to hold the horn while driving as that would be a hazard on its own. Maybe mount it somewhere within easy reach of the operator using industrial strength Velcro or duct tape – anything that doesn’t cause any structural integrity to be lost.
In addition, to be on the safe side here, I would recommend you have the horn on the forklift fixed at some point and just use the hand-held one temporarily.
What’s Your Trainer IQ?
Time to test your knowledge! choose the best answer to the following questions.
1. Why is it important to initial changes you make to a practical evaluation form?
a) To have on record the name of the person who actually made the change.
b) To indicate for the record that the change was actually intentional.
c) To make the document look official.
d) So that you can be contacted if there are any questions afterward.
2. Which phrase best describes “load center”?
a) The location of the center of gravity of the load.
b) The single point where an object is balanced in all directions.
c) The area in which the combined center of gravity must remain for the equipment to remain stable.
d) The point at which a forklift is rated to lift a maximum load.
Stay tuned, we’ll share our answers next month.
Last Chance to Register!
We have limited seats available in the following upcoming trainer programs:
Abbotsford, BC
Premium Forklift Trainer Aug 18-21
Standard End-User Fall Protection Sept 3
Basic End-User Fall Protection Sept 4
Premium Combo Trainer Sept 8-12
Express Forklift Trainer Sept 15-16
Express Skid Steer Loader Trainer Sept 17-18
Bismarck, North Dakota
Premium Combo Trainer Aug 18-22
Tukwila, Washington
Premium Combo Trainer Aug 18-22
Salt Lake City, Utah
Premium Forklift Trainer Aug 25-28
Trainer Recertification Aug 29
Standard End-User Fall Protection Sept 22
Aerial Lifts Trainer Sept 23-25
Trainer Recertification Sept 26
Sacramento, California
Premium Combo Trainer Sept 8-12
Express Forklift Trainer Sept 15-16
Express Skid Steer Loader Trainer Sept 17-18
Excavator Trainer Upgrade Sept 19
Loader Group Trainer Sept 29-Oct 3
Kapolei, Hawaii
Rough Terrain Forklift Trainer Upgrade Sept 23
Aerial Lifts Trainer Sept 24-26
Las Vegas, Nevada
Aerial Lifts Trainer Sept 30-Oct 2
Trainer Recertification Oct 3
For more program and date options, view our calendar here.
What’s Wrong With This?
Can you spot what’s wrong with this photo? Click here to share your comments!
Answer to Last Month’s WWWT?
In last month’s photo, the operator was doing the following things incorrectly:
- Leaving the cab with an elevated load.
- Standing underneath an elevated load.
- Poor load engagement – load should be closer to the carriage.
- It can only be assumed that the minivan was not built with any place to safely engage it with a forklift so the forks are probably damaging the points they are contacting.
Is there anything we missed? Leave a comment here!
Interesting News Articles
- Fall protection FAQs: Five things you’ve been meaning to ask… more
- Changing a forklift battery safely… more
- OSHA launches enforcement program in North Dakota… more
- Video: WorkSafeBC’s safety inspection process… more
- Employers need to keep women in mind when purchasing PPE… more
- Worker seriously injured when struck by automated forklift… more
- 5 tips for preventing forklift accidents… more
- Modifying lifting equipment to meet unique work areas… more
- Infographic: The dangers of modern warehouses and how to prevent them… more
Incident Reports
Tipover – Waco, Texas
One construction worker drowned and another escaped when the boomlift they were in fell off a barge and sank into a river at a bridge project. Both workers were hooked to the lift by safety harnesses. One man freed himself and was rescued; the other did not. It is unclear whether the lift slid, rolled or tipped off the barge. OSHA is investigating. [www.wacotrib.com]
Struck by Machine – Molalla, Oregon
A truck driver died at a forest products company when he was struck by a forklift that was loading lumber onto trucks. A fire department official said the driver of the flat-bed tractor-trailer truck was securing part of the load with straps while the rest of the truck was being loaded. While he was doing so, the forklift backed into him. The truck driver died at the scene. OSHA and a county accident reconstruction team are investigating. [www.portlandtribune.com]
Tipover – Phoenix, Arizona
Two construction workers repainting a jail were killed when a self-propelled boomlift they were using tipped over. A sheriff’s department spokesman said that it appeared the lift had been placed on a downhill slope. The workers were on the lift beside the building’s sixth story, said the spokesperson. Inmates in the recreation yard saw them fall and reported it to tower officers. Both workers were pronounced dead at a local hospital. [www.kpho.com]
Struck by vehicle – Los Angeles, California
A man was killed when he fell 11 ft. and hit his head after a city bus ran into the self-propelled boom lift he was unloading from a tractor-trailer truck.
The worker was driving the 120-ft. lift off the truck near a construction site in downtown Los Angeles about 3:25 a.m. when the accident happened. The truck was parked on a side street, and as the man traveled the lift off the trailer, the boom lift’s work platform hung out into an intersecting main street, on which the bus was traveling.
Neither the bus driver nor a passenger reportedly saw the lift until it was too late, and the bus struck it. The lift operator, who was not harnessed to the work platform, was knocked out of the lift and suffered severe head trauma when he fell. He died at an area hospital. [www.latimes.com]
[Source: Lift & Access Magazine]
Upcoming Events
We’ll be exhibiting at the National Safety Council Congress & Exposition in San Diego, California on September 15-17.
Make sure to stop by our booth if you’re attending the show!
Client Testimonials
“The course was very good. I enjoyed it and learned a lot. Our Trainer did a great job. One of the best safety courses I have taken.” Derrick, Minneapolis Electrical JATC.
“The materials are excellent, the classroom environment great and a very enthusiastic instructor that kept up the energy level in the room and provided a great learning experience.” Isabel, AgSafe.
“Really enjoyed the class. A wealth of information that I wish I had years ago.” Daniel, KUKA.
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