New OSHA Standard Could Require Companies to Give Forklift Training

A new standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration could require trucking companies to give training lessons to their drivers at least every three years on how to safely operate forklifts.

OSHA’s standard applies to a wide range of industries, including construction, maritime and general industry as well as trucking.

The agency has been working for 10 years on new training rules, which replace less comprehensive requirements OSHA issued in 1971. The rules cover any powered industrial truck used to carry, push, pull, lift, stack or tier material -- that includes pallet jacks and motorized hand trucks in addition to forklifts.

Richard Sauger, the safety specialist at OSHA who headed up the development of the standard, said the requirements would definitely apply to truckers if they occasionally operate forklifts to unload their cargo. He said it would be the drivers’ employer who would be obligated to make sure his employees are properly trained.

"It’s the employer who is responsible for the safety of his employees," said Mr. Sauger. "So where you have a driver of one employer working on the premises of another business, it is still the truck driver’s boss who is responsible for his safety."

Under the standard, any employee operating a powered industrial truck would have to receive initial training on how to safely operate it. Both formal, classroom training and hands-on instruction would have to be part of the program. Once trained, employees must be certified by their employers as competent to operate a forklift. That documentation must be retained for potential review by OSHA.

For the full story, see the Dec. 14 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.