Forklift Safety Training – A Valuable Investment – As an employer, it’s always frightening when you hear, “oh no…there’s been an accident.” Your first thought, “is anyone hurt?” Your second thought, “what broke and how much will it cost to repair or replace it?” You see, when an accident occurs, not only can thousands of dollars be lost within seconds, but a life can be physically altered.
According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), forklifts account for 61,800 minor injuries, 34,900 serious injuries, and 85 forklift related deaths every year. In fact, with almost 900,000 forklifts in operation in the United States, there’s a one in ten chance that each forklift in a given company will be involved in an accident this year.
As such, proper forklift training for your forklift operators not only is a great investment, but it’s a necessity. For example, proper forklift training allows for:
1) Safer Work Environment: It doesn’t matter whether you run a small business or a large one, workplace dangers exist and practicing safety standards is necessary for reducing the chances of injuries and damage.
2) Decreased Maintenance Costs & Reduced Damage: Forklift repairs can be expensive, however, forklift operators with proper safety training are less like likely to damage products, equipment, and machinery. In fact, according to OSHA, forklift operators perform 61% much better after taking proper forklift training, and the better the forklift operator, the better they know how to properly and safely operate the machinery. In turn, the more likely an employer will have decreased damage and maintenance costs.
3) Lower insurance premiums: As a business with employers, there’s a high likelihood that your company is responsible for such insurance costs as worker’s compensation coverage. However, if you can provide proof that your forklift operators have undergone and certified in proper forklift training, your insurance company may very likely reduce the cost of your worker’s compensation coverage and increasing your savings.
4) Increases the Forklift’s Lifespan: When your forklift operators are properly trained and certified, not only will they know how to correctly and efficiently do their job, but they will be knowledgeable in executing safety checks, noticing any forklift issues, and handling issues before they intensify into something more serious. Subsequently, your equipment will be able to effectively work for a longer period of time – thus increasing your ROI.
5) Increase Confidence Levels: When your forklift operators are properly trained and certified, they are more likely to be confident in their skills and knowledge – thus they will be able to perform better, more efficiently, and act productively.
Making sure your forklift operators are properly trained and certified not only is crucial for minimizing costly accidents, but it can increase your operation’s productivity and efficiency.
We’d like to help you reach your forklift certification and training goals! When you need your team trained and certified in forklift operations, American Forklift Training Centers, INC. is your go-to solution. With your convenience in mind, our OSHA compliant forklift training program can be brought to your location so employees won’t have to travel off-site. Our affordable, Forklift Certification is designed to provide an extensive, yet cost-effective curriculum, to quickly train and certify your employees – giving you everything you need to implement your own in-house forklift training and certification program at an affordable rate!