Written By Daniel Aday, CompOne Administrators Safety & Loss Prevention Specialist
Industrial vehicles can range from electric golf carts to LP forklifts to diesel-powered excavators, and their usage can range from once a day to once a year. Regardless of the size, purpose, or how often they are used, there are inherent dangers from the operation of these within workplaces. Recently, Michigan has seen an increase in industrial vehicle-related fatalities, which highlights the need for improved industrial vehicle safety programs, on the job training, and ensuring safe operation for all types of industrial vehicles. If your operation includes the usage of industrial vehicles – regardless of whether it is for maintenance staff driving a flatbed utility cart to different parts of your site or if it is as major as utilizing an all-terrain forklift to deliver shingles to the roof of a structure – you must ensure employees are protected at all times.
As companies grow, communication between employers and employees tends to diminish, which is one, amongst many, reasons why written procedures are so important. When an employee’s scope of work begins to encompass the use of an industrial vehicle, it is imperative that your company’s expectations and policies are documented, trained and accessible to all employees. While some employees may have experience in operating an industrial vehicle, there may be a difference between the employer’s and employee’s understanding of a safe means of operation. Having something that is brief but comprehensive on your company’s procedures, general safety of the applicable equipment and expectations of safe use are the first steps in reducing or eliminating the chance of an injury or property damage.
There’s nearly nothing worse than learning about an accident that could have easily been avoided only if the affected employee was unaware of a “common sense” safety practice. Common sense is not sufficient when it comes to safety.Whether you are looking at OSHA general industry or construction safety standards, you will see the requirement to train employees in a multi-step process.
Step One consists of formal instruction. This can be either through a lecture, discussion, written material or some other means of classroom teaching. Step Two consists of practical training, through some means of demonstration of the equipment by the trainer. Step Three consists of the employee practicing and showing their capabilities as the trainer evaluates their skills. Follow up training should occur no more than three years after initial training or whenever an unsafe event occurs. Ensure all is documented and kept on file.
Accountability and responsibility are imperative for all those involved in the operation of industrial vehicles. Having some means of scheduled preventative maintenance for equipment, ensuring daily inspections are being performed and documented, observing safe driving behavior and providing adequate refresher training are recommended. If unsafe actions are occurring, pulling an employee’s industrial vehicle license may be required, until they are able to follow your company’s rules and drive in a safe manner. While there is a time and place for everything, a company’s zero tolerance policy for unsafe behavior (implying termination for unsafe behavior) is generally not warranted for unsafe industrial vehicle usage. Instead, the usage of progressive discipline and proper means of retraining is the preferred way to go. Only egregiously unsafe acts should warrant the need for a zero tolerance policy.
Whether your company has ever had an accident or not, there is always room for improvement. No one comes to work and plans on an injury. Taking the time today to make your industrial truck program safer, could mean one less injury tomorrow.