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The
truth is - it is your responsibility to ensure
that each and every individual have attended
an approved
training course and has demonstrated the
necessary skills needed to operate a fork lift
safely. Legally speaking, employers are responsible
for ensuring the safety of their employees and
others. This responsibility is reinforced by
regulations, (the Health and Safety at Work
etc Act 1974) and for providing training
necessary to ensure the health and safety of
employers.
The
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
( PUWER ) 1998 require employers to ensure
that anyone who uses or supervises the use of
work equipment such as forklift trucks has received
adequate training for the purposes of health
and safety, including training in the working
methods and precautions to be taken. This also
applies to the self-employed.
Each
year in the UK, there are 8,000 reportable injuries
involving lift trucks. A safety policy directorate
from the Health and Safety Executive outlines
the fact that fork lift truck accidents are
frequently associated with lack of suitable
operator training. Forklift operator training
is an essential first step in reducing damage
and injury and should be taken very serously
if you wish to avoid massive fines.
Let
us look at the case of Austin Brickwork Ltd.
The construction firm and one of its directors
were fined a total of £60,000 at Southampton
Crown Court on March 1st 2003. The
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the
prosecution against Austin Brickwork Ltd and
company director Julian Austin, both of Albourne
Close, Hungerford, Hants after a forklift truck
driven by a company employee knocked down and
killed labourer Kevin Moyle, also of Hungerford,
on a building site in Basingstoke, Hampshire,
on 7 August 2000.
HSE's
investigation found that the driver had not
been trained or tested to operate a forklift
truck.
Austin
Brickwork was fined £40,000 plus £8,799
costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section
2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1974 (HSW Act), in that it failed to ensure
the safety of employees by not restricting use
of the forklift truck to competent staff. Mr
Austin was fined £20,000 after pleading
guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the HSW
Act, because he instructed an untrained employee
to drive the truck.
HSE
investigating inspector, Mike Sarson, said:
"Mr
Moyle's death highlights the need for employers
to use only trained and licensed forklift truck
drivers. "Any employer, director or manager
that allows a person who is untrained to drive
workplace machinery increases the risk of an
accident, which could result in injury or death."
Let's
assume that you take responsibility to see all
operators' approved
training course certficates and are satisfied
that despite the fact that they last attended
a course three or more years ago - at least
they are fully trained.
This
isn't scare mongering here, it is real - if
an accident happened now or in the near future,
you can be sure that an inspector from Health
and Safety Executive or other official person
will use the fact that you have not ensured
your forklift operators are genuinely up-to-date
in their skills whilst driving the lift vehicle.
Whilst
there is no legal requirement to re-train your
fork lift operators - you still have an obligation
under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998 and The Health and Safety
at Work etc Act 1974 ... just for starters!
In this age of No Win - No Fee litigation, record
damages are being paid out. A perfect example
is the case of a warehouse worker who received
almost £2.4 million in an out of court
settlement after he had an accident at work
on the fork lift he was driving.
The
successful claimant was working for a stationery
company in Cwmbran, South Wales when the accident
happened. He was driving a lift truck around
a sharp corner when it overturned crushing him
underneath it.
His
spine was broken in three places and he is now
paralysed from the waist down. He claimed on
the basis that he had not received any training
on how to drive fork lift trucks and was also
left unsupervised at the time of the accident.
... £2.4 million !!
We
can produce page after page of examples relating
to forklift accidents, none of us want to be
the subject of any related article and if common
sense prevailed, we'd all be booking approved
training course right now!
Just
because one operator has been driving for years,
it does not make him more experienced or safer
than someone who has been operating fork lifts
for only a number of months. It is likely that
the forklift truck driver with a number of years
under his belt has more bad habits than the
novice
driver. Existing
forklift drivers might find a re-test
helpful. The candidate receives an up to date
refresher on The Health and Safety at Work Act
and reminder of the operator's safety code.
A good thing to know - because who knows when
an inspector will call?
Corrective
tuition to eradicate any undesirable or dangerous
habits that may have been picked up over the
years.. let's face it none of us are perfect.
Getting your fork lift to dance along with the
very loud music is a big no - no!
At
the end of shift, does the forklift operator
decamp and go home, or carry out pre - shift
checks including Battery
charging/Refueling ?... a good habit to
get into. An excellent idea is to have your
Approved
Fork Lift Operator Training People create
a "Dummy" test environment to establish
existing ability and a test on pre-shift checks.
Successful candidates are awarded a certificate
of basic training which is recognised by the
Factory Inspectorate as proof that formal training
has been carried out.
I
use 'Everything
Within' as a British search portal and in
the main directory is 'Fork
Lift Training Services' category which links
to www.aes-training.com,
founded by Tony Sellick in October 1980 following
ten years experience in the fork lift industry
at Yale Materials Handling.
Many
of us are guilty of procuring information on
a 'need to know' basis and then all too easily
fall foul of the law because we didn't know.
The Health & Safety Executive reminded all
employers and the self-employed that all mobile
work equipment provided for use before 5 December
1998 must be brought into compliance
with Part III of the Provision and Use of Work
Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER
98) by 5 December 2002. Mobile work equipment
includes such items as fork-lift trucks, dumpers
and tractors.
If
you are an employer, or are self-employed or
if you are in control 'to any extent' of mobile
work equipment, this part of PUWER requires
you to ensure that it is safe to use by preventing
or controlling risks. For new equipment the
requirement has been in effect since 5 December
1998. For equipment in use before that date,
check with AES
-Training how much of the four-year transitional
period there is left to go.
LOLER
and PUWER Training course are available from
AES Training
and cover; The Health and Safety at Work Act,
European directives on Health and Safety
The
main requirements of LOLER ( Lifting Operations
and Lifting Equipment Regulations ) include:
Installing lifting equipment, Equipment that
comes under the scope of the regulations, Inspection
and testing of equipment, Duties of hirers of
equipment, Record keeping, Training of operators
of such equipment
The main requirements of PUWER ( Provision
and Use of Work Equipment Regulations )
include: Maintenance of equipment, Isolation
switches, Permit to work systems, Record keeping,
Training of operators of such equipment, Miscellaneous
items such as ventilation, location of equipment
etc., The tie up with other regulations such
as COSHH. Successful
candidates are awarded a certificate of training
which is recognised by the Factory Inspectorate
as proof that formal training has been carried
out
The
Health and Safety Executive say the main risks
involved in the use of mobile work equipment
are from being struck by the vehicle, the equipment
rolling over, the driver or passengers falling
from the vehicle or being struck by falling
objects, unauthorised start up of the vehicle,
inadequate devices for braking and stopping,
and restricted driver visibility.
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