July 2021 IVES Update e-Newsletter

Check out our latest news: 10 tips to increase your "speaker likability", product feature: Posters, Reference Materials, Signs & Stickers, upcoming program calendar, new WorkSafeBC regulations coming, forklift accident and fines, a question about carrying pallets on a forklift, interesting articles, and testimonials from our wonderful customers!

In this issue, we will be covering:

All About You: 10 tips to increase your "speaker likability".
Product Feature: Posters, Reference Materials, Signs & Stickers.
New WorkSafeBC Regulations coming soon.
Upcoming Program Calendar.
Abattoir fined $70,600 USD after forklift injured worker.
Ask Bob: Our tech guru answers a question on carrying pallets on a forklift.
A selection of interesting articles.
New testimonials from our wonderful clients.

But first, check out all the places we are delivering training this month...

“What’s the most important skill a professional safety speaker needs to master?”

I’ve been asked this question dozens of times. Although several skills are needed to become a professional speaker, I’ve found that – no matter the subject and regardless of whether you’re presenting at a small safety meeting, technical session or large keynote address – the single most crucial skill is to be able to get your audience to like you.

Getting your audience to like you may seem quaint, but it takes thoughtful practice and awareness. It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about – if your audience doesn’t like you, you won’t have much of a positive impact.

You can be the most respected and learned person in your field, which may earn you attention and well-deserved appreciation. But if your audience finds your delivery to be that of a “know-it-all jerk,” what they’ll remember the most are their bad feelings about you.

So, how do you get an audience to like you? And I’m talking about any audience. It doesn’t matter if it’s a group of colleagues at a staff meeting, a pre-job safety review before five ironworkers or an annual manager meeting in which you’ve been selected to give a talk on your company’s safety performance. Here are the keys to “speaker likability.”

Show ‘unique’ appreciation

You don’t need to start your talk or training with expressions of gratitude. Depending on the situation, it can seem lame. I’ve watched impressive famous speakers begin with a “thank you,” while others startle their audience with a bold statement. But I’ve seen only a handful not show appreciation at some point while on stage.

It’s your general attitude that speaks of appreciation, including subtle statements. For example, I spoke a few years ago at a safety convention in Hawaii. I performed a safety parody song titled “Working Safely,” based on the melody to Hawaiian musical legend Don Ho’s song “Tiny Bubbles.” It was fun and, I believe, a hit. And performing the song showed I knew about my audience and had taken time for them, not just my agenda.

Too often, I’ve seen “safety speakers” spend most of their stage time warning their audience about how nasty it would be if they violate a safety procedure. That won’t endear you to your audience. When you let your audience know that you appreciate their efforts and your main motive is to help, they’ll like you.

A big “aha!” moment for me was when I realized that the skills I needed to succeed at one-on-one interactions were precisely the same as those I needed to use on stage. There are differences, of course. My gestures are a bit more expansive on stage, and I don’t use slides when I’m at a party or hanging out at my local club. (That would be hilarious! “Hello guys, before we play pool tonight, I’d like to display a few slides on the importance of hazard recognition.”)

What gets an audience to like you? Here are 10 tips:

Express interest in their life and local culture, not just yours.
Be humble. Show you’re human, just like everyone listening to you.
Don’t be a “know-it-all.”
Talk about how you learned what you’re sharing.
Laugh at yourself. Audiences love it when a speaker humorously exposes weaknesses and past foibles.
Describe why you’re passionate about your subject.
Explain how you overcame an obstacle or severe life challenge.
Show you relish interaction, because it shows you care about what your audience thinks and feels.
Don’t be fake, unless you’re portraying a character. (One of my favorite compliments is when someone tells me I’m the same off the platform as I am when formally speaking.)

And No. 10: Don’t be stern and reserved, and act like an “authority.” Have fun! If you’re having a good time, most likely your audience is too.

Source: Safety and Health Magazine

Posters, Reference Materials, Signs & Stickers are a valuable tool for companies to keep safety at the forefront of their employee’s minds.

Bring safety to the forefront with strategic placement of posters and signage designed to display simple and powerful messages.

Reference materials including ANSI Manuals of Responsibilities and rigging handbooks are an excellent tool for operators to have on hand.

Available for forklifts, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWP), loaders and excavators.

Link to browse or purchase our Posters, Reference Materials, Signs & Stickers

Since their initial release in April 1998, the 34 Parts that make up the British Columbia Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR) have, with few exceptions, gone virtually unchanged.

However, that’s about to change as of September 1 of this year when WorkSafeBC is scheduled to release an OHSR with significant revisions, particularly to Part 16 - Mobile Equipment.

This revision affects all IVES Certified Trainers as all of the equipment IVES trainers work with, including forklifts, MEWPs, loaders and excavators, are considered “mobile equipment.”

Following is a summary of some of the notable changes in the soon to be released Part 16 over the current version:

1) It has been streamlined quite a bit. By using more efficient wording and merging many previously separate regulations into one it has gone from having 55 sub-parts to only 43.

2) Although many of the current regulations also appear in the new version unchanged, their number and position within it has changed. If you have notated your lesson plan or other documents you use during operator training with regulation numbers, you will need to revise them.

3) The definitions have been revised and expanded to include:

Earth Mover

Excavator

Excluded Ground Machines

Pedestrians

Prime Mover

Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV)

4) Equipment designed for walk-behind, offboard or remote-control operation is considered an ‘excluded ground machine’ and not subject to the provisions of Part 16. This includes walkie type powered pallet jacks and stackers as well as walk-behind mini skid-steer loaders.

For those of you who train operators of these types of machines, it will not change a single thing you are doing in terms of operator training as training is required when using any type of tool, equipment or machinery.

5) The use of seat belts on equipment manufactured with them is much more clearly defined.

6) Procedures following a high voltage contact is now addressed and calls for equipment to be removed from service, inspected by a qualified person and repaired as required before returning to service following any contact between the equipment and a high voltage power source.

7) A new requirement prohibiting fuel tank fill points or vent openings within an enclosed cab now exists in the new version.

8) Braking requirements have been heavily modified but will not affect operator training as they are equipment performance specifications that do not need to be discussed during training.

9) A new requirement making a ROPS mandatory on all mobile equipment will be implemented in the new Part 16.

A ROPS is not required if a qualified person has conducted a rollover risk assessment and determined low or minimal risk of rollover. The assessment can be a simple visual inspection in low-risk areas like a warehouse but must be a formal written assessment if certain types of equipment like loaders or rough terrain forklifts are involved.

10) The referenced standard for lift truck (forklift) operator training in the new Part 16 is now Clause 6 of CSA B335-15 as opposed to the current regulation that references CSA B335-94.

There are no substantial differences between these two standards relative to the content of a forklift operator training program so it’s business as usual for classroom and practical training and evaluation. However, the time interval for retraining has moved from two years to three with no requirement for a mid-term evaluation.

11) The revisions made to Part 16 have triggered subsequent revisions in the following Parts:

(1) – Definitions

(8) – Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment

(10) – De-energization and Lockout

(12) – Tools, Machinery and Equipment

(14) – Cranes and Hoists

(17) – Transportation of Workers

(26) – Forestry Operations and Similar Activities

(28) – Agriculture

(31) – Firefighting.

For those of you that would like to get more familiar with the provisions of the new Part 16 and or the other affected Parts, use the link below to access and download a working document of them complete with explanatory notes provided by WorkSafeBC.

The final versions of each Part to be integrated into the OHSR and released September 1 will contain several minor editorial changes.

Here is the link: WorkSafeBC amendments

Rob Vetter

Director of Training

Warrnambool's Midfield Meat International Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to one charge under Section 21 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act of failing, so far as was reasonably practicable, to eliminate the risk of powered mobile machines colliding with pedestrians.

The company was convicted in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on 8 March 2019, fined and ordered to pay WorkSafe's costs of $3,000 USD.

The court heard a worker and a company director were standing in the centre of a yard in an area referred to as the "thoroughfare" when the incident occurred on 30 October 2017.

At the time another employee was driving a forklift carrying a bin filled with skins along the thoroughfare towards a truck that was being loaded.

The court heard the driver's view was obscured by the bin as he drove forward, and he was only alerted to the incident when someone yelled out.

After stopping he found he had hit two people, injuring the employee, who sustained two fractured ribs. The director did not sustain a serious injury.

The court heard the company had a traffic management system in place but it had not been updated and there were no designated pedestrian walkways or physical barriers to separate pedestrian only areas.

The court heard the company has four prior workplace safety convictions.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Julie Nielsen said the extreme danger forklifts posed when used without proper safety measures in place was well known.

"Already this year one worker has died and the courts have fined four companies in relation to serious forklift incidents prosecuted by WorkSafe," Ms Nielsen said.

"In this case a worker could have been prevented from receiving debilitating injuries had an appropriate traffic management plan, which includes physical separation of forklifts and people, been in place."

"All workers should undertake appropriate training on the tasks and machinery they are to be involved with, failure to do so can result in severe consequences."

Employers using mobile machinery such as forklifts should ensure:

All workers receive appropriate induction and training on the work they are to be involved in, and that a register of training and induction is maintained on file.

Signage is in place and barriers are erected where appropriate.

Visibility issues are identified and controlled, particularly if lighting is poor.

Machinery and vehicles are regularly inspected and maintained, by a suitably qualified person.

A traffic management plan is in place for pedestrians and powered mobile plant and that it is reviewed and updated as appropriate.

Pedestrians are separated from moving machinery and that an effective communication system between operators, transport contractors and ground staff is in place.

Source: Work Safe

Free technical support for all IVES Certified Trainers!

Question:

Hello, Is it okay to carry two pallets behind each other on the forks of one counter balance forklift?

Answer:

Do you mean the forks are going through two pallets/loads that are sitting on the ground back to back?

If so, yes, assuming the combined CG (Center of Gravity) of the two loads is not beyond the rated load center of the truck and the forks can reach 2/3 of the way under the furthest pallet.

In addition, they would either have to be small pallets in order for standard 42” forks to work safely or you must use longer forks to achieve the 2/3 support under the second pallet, if they are 42” standard pallets.

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"The trainer certification program (Premium Combo Program) was filled with tons of useful and practical knowledge that I’ll be able to take directly into my workplace." Melvin, Starline Windows.

"The IVES training program (Express Counterbalanced Forklift Trainer) gave me the tools I need to not only train, but to coach and improve the safety of other programs." Logan, Aspect Safety.

"This program (MEWP Trainer Certification) really opened my eyes to all the different levels of safety. Our company will be taking extra measures now to ensure operators’ safety." Jared, Big Iron Auctions.

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