OSHA’s Rule for Powered Industrial Truck Operator Training,
OSHA’s Final Rule for Powered Industrial Truck Operator Training, which came into effect March 1, 1999, requires:
* Operator training and licensing.
* Periodic evaluations of operator performance.
* Mandatory refresher training if an operator is observed operating in an unsafe way, is involved in an accident or near-accident, or is assigned to a new model.
* Standards for operation, loading, seat belts, overhead protective structures, alarms, and maintenance of forklifts.
Accidents happen despite the efforts of OSHA and NIOSH to educate employers.
Sadly, industrial fatalities involving forklifts continue. In the fall of 2013, a worker at the Blue Pelican Marina near Tampa Bay, Florida lost both legs when a forklift rolled over on him. The driver and his son were using a 20,000-pound forklift for an installation when the machine began to tip, and the driver was said to have jumped. The vehicle rolled, pinned the man to a fence, and severed his legs.
Witnesses and investigators say that the accident may have been preventable. Proper forklift training dictates that it is unsafe to leap from a tipping vehicle. The driver should have remained seated and braced himself since the majority of traumatic and fatal incidents involve crushing when a machine tips. Furthermore, evidence shows the machine was being driven parallel to the dock’s slope. It is never advisable to drive a forklift across an incline.
