Forklifts are essential for thousands of businesses across America. Forklifts lift heavy objects that would otherwise be unsafe for employees to accomplish alone. These vehicles can cause serious injury to other employees and pedestrians if not adequately operated with necessary training and maintenance.
Forklift Training
Forklift training is a serious topic for businesses that wish to avoid preventable accidents in the workplace. As with any form of machinery, training is essential for safety. Lack of proper training can result in injury requiring workers’ compensation. OSHA guidelines state, “The employer shall ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely.” Under these guidelines, employers are responsible for developing a written training process to operate these industrial vehicles safely.
Maintenance Requirement
With proper training comes essential maintenance, just like when we take our cars to get an oil change or check our brakes. These same basic maintenance steps must be taken with forklifts to ensure they can operate safely. OSHA standards prohibit the operation of forklifts that are not adequately maintained to follow employee and workplace safety standards.
PIT
Osha requires for employee safety that employers follow PIT standards. Operators of PIT vehicles are advised to stop and seek assistance if any of the following are observed.
- If an employee sees an operational issue with a forklift.
- If the forklift emits sparks of flames from its exhaust systems
- If the forklift experiences excessive temperatures in any area that differs from its typical operating temperatures
- If an operator or employee notices a forklift has a leak or another anomaly in its fuel system.
While forklifts assist in the daily operations of business across America, these vehicles also create a significant liability issue for employers. However, due to OSHA standards, the amount of people injured has significantly decreased. Regardless, Through the increased expansion of warehouse businesses like Amazon. The focus remains clear, inform, train, and maintain these forklift vehicles to optimize employee safety and reduce the risk of work-related injury resulting in workers’ compensation claims.
Suppose you’ve been injured from a forklift accident at work due to a lack of training or unmaintained equipment. In that case, you should seek legal help from our qualified Sacramento workers’ compensation attorneys at Sacramento Workers’ Compensation Attorneys P.C. Give us a call at 916-288-9193 or visit our website to schedule your free consultation.