Four options for forklift training: warehouse managers should weigh the pros and cons when it comes to evaluating forklift training options
Published in: Logistics Management
Date: 2/1/2004
By: Atkinson, William
It’s the law–forklift truck drivers must be trained. In 1999, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised an existing regulation, 29 CFR 1910.178(1), that requires training for operators of powered industrial trucks. Under the revised standard, employers are required to provide training every three years. If an operator has an accident or a near miss, or is observed operating equipment in an unsafe manner, he or she must be retrained.
Although that law has been in place for several years, many companies, especially smaller ones, fail to comply. Robert Rogers of Rogers Consulting in Oxford, N.Y., says ignorance of the law remains widespread. “I get involved in lift–truck accident investigations, and one thing that continues to surprise me is that there are still companies that don’t even know the training is required,” he observes.
“Most of the accidents I have seen involve operators who haven’t received any training,” confirms John Johnson of Johnson Engineering Services in Gresham, Ore. “They were told how to make the equipment go up, down, forward, and backward, and that was it! They have no concept of things like load, load center, or stability.”
Responsible companies comply with the law for several reasons. At the top of the list, of course, is the need to ensure workers’ safety. Well-trained operators, moreover, will also be more efficient than those who are poorly trained–or not trained at all. And there are legal considerations, too. Even though the law only requires training every three years, smart companies train operators once a year, going above and beyond what OSHA requires, says Jeffre Ord, president of Forklift Safety Training Services in Boulder City, Nev. “This is primarily to protect themselves from liability exposure,” he explains.
Whatever the reason, once a warehouse manager is ready to conduct training and has decided on the right frequency, he or she must then decide how to do it. There are four basic options available today: Have an in-house staff member do the training; hire a consultant to conduct training on-site; arrange for an equipment dealer to do the training; or purchase a video and/or software training program. Because each of those approaches has its advantages and disadvantages, it’s important to weigh the tradeoffs before embarking on a particular course.
IN-HOUSE TRAINERS
If a company has enough employees to justify the cost, either a full- or part-time on-site trainer is the way to go, believes Robert McAdam of RDM Consulting in Greenville, N.C. “Having someone who possesses knowledge of your unique work environment has great value,” he says. That’s because an in-house trainer is sure to be familiar with areas of concern, such as ramps, doorways, busy intersections, and particular traffic flows. That trainer can also show drivers where necessities such as battery chargers, propane tanks, and eyewash areas are located, says Johnson.
But having an in-house trainer can be costly. “One of the problems with in-house trainers is that you can spend $2,000 to $3,000 to get them trained to become trainers, but then they move on,” says Thomas White, president of Occupational Safety & Health Consultants in St. Petersburg, Fla. Even if the trainer stays for a long time, he adds, a company still has to pay for refresher courses. To make having an in-house trainer cost-effective, White contends, that person would have to conduct in-house training at least once a month. “If you have fewer than 100 lift-truck operators, it probably doesn’t pay to do it in-house,” he says.
More companies could afford that expense by having the trainer do other types of work, suggests Jay Eadie of Eadie Consulting in Greencastle, Pa. “This person can be responsible for other types of training or other responsibilities in addition to lift-truck training that will keep him or her busy full-time,” he says. Many companies, for example, place forklift driver training under the general safety manager.
OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS
Although an in-house training program allows a warehouse to focus on its unique requirements, many companies will find it hard to justify having such a position on the payroll. For them, contracting with an outside consultant to provide instruction may be the best route.
“It is better to train operators in the workplace where they will actually be operating the equipment,” Johnson says. A good consultant can survey a facility and learn the specifics, agrees McAdam. “By inviting this person into your workplace, he or she can identify the individual hazards in the workplace and translate these into an effective training program,” he says.
A consultant may also bring to the table a variety of training resources. White, for instance, offers on-site programs that start with an instructional video. He uses a slide presentation to reinforce information in the video, followed by a workbook exercise. If there are Spanish-speaking trainees, he makes sure to have an interpreter. The three-hour classroom portion is followed by four to five hours of hands-on training. “If they are still unable to drive safely by the end of the course, we work with them one-on-one until they are comfortable,” he says.
That may be less expensive than an in-house trainer, but it can still be costly. Ord, for instance, charges $295 per person with a five-person minimum for an on-site training session. A company with frequent employee turnover, though, faces the prospect of repeatedly hiring an outside vendor for training, he notes. “Every time you get new operators, you have to bring the consultant back in,” he says.
DEALER TRAINING
Many equipment dealers offer some type of training program for customers for an added fee. Training, in fact, can be a very lucrative income stream for them, Eadie notes.
Some dealer trainers visit their customers’ worksites. Those who do can talk with supervisors and safety managers to become familiar with specific situations, then address those issues during the training session. Companies that don’t have a large enough number of operators or adequate space for onsite training, on the other hand, can send their drivers to the dealership for training, Eadie explains.
One concern about dealer-conducted training is that it’s limited to the specific equipment the dealer sells. That isn’t necessarily a drawback, though. “A dealer program is probably the best training for the specific type of equipment being used, because the training is usually created by the manufacturer,” says Rogers. “OSHA training requires that the training cover the specific equipment being used. The manufacturer knows the ins and outs of that equipment better than anyone.”
If you have equipment from different manufacturers, though, dealer training may not fill the bill. “Dealer training is okay if you have only one brand of lift trucks,” Ord says. “However, if you have trucks from a number of different manufacturers, as is the case with most companies, one dealer’s program won’t be able to address all of the other trucks you have.”
VIDEOS AND SOFTWARE
Although most experts would probably agree that some form of hands-on training with an instructor may be the best way to learn, many companies are turning to video or software tutorials to meet their legal obligations for training at low cost.
Experts consulted for this article were sharply divided over the value of that approach. “In terms of all of the options available for lift-truck training, the 20-minute video would be at the bottom of my list,” says McAdam. “A lot of people promote these as training programs, but the information is so generic that it is almost worthless.”
White agrees. “Video can be useful, but it shouldn’t be a stand-alone program,” he says. He knows of employers that put operators in a room, turn on a video, and consider them trained. “I serve as an expert witness for attorneys, and it is pretty easy to show that this type of training is inadequate,” he says.
Eadie agrees, adding that videos and software alone are insufficient for several reasons. First, some people learn best by hearing, while others learn best by seeing, reading, or doing. “There is no way you can adequately train everyone by using a single video or software program,” he says. Second, many forklift operators are not well educated or may be struggling with English. “They aren’t going to be able to learn everything they need from a video or software program,” he says. Third, if operators have questions or need additional assistance after the training, they need to be able to ask a trainer for that information. Finally, if an accident occurs and the case goes to court, this type of training by itself will be seen as inadequate, Eadie adds.
Ord, however, disagrees. Throughout most of the 1990s, he says, he conducted more 2,000 on-site training seminars, but many companies balk at the cost of on-site training today. “I used to serve about 600 clients that way,” he says. “Now I serve about six.”
In response to changing demand, Ord now offers his program as a training kit that includes video and interactive workbooks. He does admit that video training may make trainees fall asleep, especially if they must come in early or stay after work to take the training. He addressed this by having the video play for five or ten minutes, then stop. Operators then do specified assignments in their workbooks.
CAREFUL CONSIDERATION
No matter which training approach a company chooses, managers should carefully evaluate any training program not only for its compliance with the law, but also in light of their facilities’ specific needs. “You need to assess its quality and completeness, as well as how appropriate it is for the type of equipment you’re using and the type of environment you have,” Rogers says.
Once training has been completed, supervisors should follow up to make sure their instruction has been effective. “It’s a good idea to provide a certain amount of supervision for a while after training, just to make sure operators understand the concepts and can apply them in their work,” Johnson suggests. “It’s easier and safer to help drivers correct mistakes early than it is to allow them to develop bad habits and try to change those later.”
PennEngineering makes training fun
When Chris Kita reminded his company’s warehouse supervisors that lift-truck retraining was coming up, they all rolled their eyes. “Our training program had become pretty flat,” admits Kita, who is environment, health, and safety manager for PennEngineering Fastening Technologies in Danboro, Pa. “We had been doing the same thing over and over.”
That lack of enthusiasm inspired Kita to try something different. What resulted was a program that not only teaches forklift operators all of the skills they need, but is also a lot more fun.
The program starts out with traditional classroom training. Then, Kita lays out a course where operators can compete against each other by performing different activities. “When I first suggested the idea to the operators, they loved it,” he recalls.
To make sure drivers don’t try to get through the course too quickly, he designed in challenges that would require them to drive carefully. Examples include having to carry a bucket of water, carry water balloons atop a basket of parts, and carry a soccer ball atop an upside-down bucket.
“If the ball falls off because they are driving too fast, they have to stop,” he says. Someone then puts the ball back and the driver continues, but he or she has now lost time. (Operators who don’t want to compete can simply drive the course to demonstrate the required skills, but about two-thirds of the drivers choose to compete, Kita reports.)
Drivers liked the competition so much they suggested that their managers also join in. As much fun as the operators have competing against each other, Kita says, they have even more fun competing against managers. “They love being able to say, ‘I didn’t beat my buddy, but I did beat the boss.'” Last year, by the way, course times ranged between 2 minutes 30 seconds and 5 minutes, with managers and supervisors clocking times on the high end of that scale.
For awards, PennEngineering’s lift-truck vendor provided a model forklift. Kita took it to a trophy shop and had it mounted on a base with a faceplate. The CEO then presented the trophy to the winner, and the trophy now is displayed in the company cafeteria. Some of the company’s other vendors also donated football tickets and gift certificates for prizes.
The competition has become so popular that PennEngineering now conducts lift-truck training every two years, instead of every three years.
William Atkinson is a freelance writer who specializes in ergonomics and human resources issues.
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