Since entering the material handling industry in 1991, I have been very concerned about how seriously we take forklift certification.
If you look at things worth achieving in life, most require work, patience, time and some level of competency to achieve. I watched a show not long ago about the U.S. Navy Seal training program. About 75% of the Seal trainees could not successfully complete the program due to its demanding requirements! Other training programs, to obtain an airline pilot’s license or a commercial driver’s license, for example, also require substantial work and knowledge, and not everyone can meet the requirements.
Even with recent updates to training requirements across the world, I still question whether those charged with training forklift operators really take the job as seriously as they should. Periodically, I audit other training programs and see people with little or no forklift experience successfully completing programs and being turned loose to operate a forklift with no supervision. Many times the driving test amounts to no more than moving some empty pallets around in a parking lot or weaving through a course at a forklift dealership. Most written tests consist of 15 or less questions that the average 10-year-old could easily pass.
Would we turn our children loose in an automobile with only an hour or two of practice, or allow someone to fly a plane by simply spending some time in a simulator? We all know that we would not do those things.
Businesses that use forklifts must start putting tougher pass or fail criteria in place that weed out weak operators for more training prior to certification.
When my company conducts hands-on evaluations, we expect trainees to be able to handle substantially heavy loads and stack as high as they would be expected to in real conditions. Depending on the application, we also might require them to load a trailer, use attachments, negotiate a ramp, etc. I always tell our trainers that, when in doubt, I would rather have them hold someone back that ‘might’ be ready instead of going ahead and giving them the stamp of approval.
Third-party trainers, such as consultants or forklift dealers, have another pressure. Many companies expect that paying for a person to be trained ensures that he will in fact pass the course. We tell customers up front that some operators may not pass and will need additional supervised practice.
I was once told by a customer, ‘You need to understand that everyone must pass your course.’ To which I replied, ‘You may have hired the wrong company since I can not guarantee they will all pass.’ They finally came around to our way of thinking, but it was not an easy battle.
Don’t look for someone such as OSHA to come out with specific pass or fail criteria. It is our job as trainers to make those judgments.
There is no guarantee that even well trained operators will not have an accident some time, but at least you can be comfortable knowing that you did your part to ensure they were properly trained and qualified.
(David Hoover is president of Forklift Training Systems. For more information on this or other topics related to forklift training, safety or products, contact David at (740) 763-4978, e-mail dhoover@forklifttrainingsystem.com, or visit www.forklifttrainingsystem.com.)
