On December 1, 1998, the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration published its Final Rule on Powered Industrial Truck Operator
Training. The Final Rule covers numerous industries, including construction, maritime,
long shoring, shipyards and general industry. This new final rule replaces the 1999
Consensus Standard found at 29 CFR 1910.178.
It has taken nearly a decade for the development of
this Rule to protect workers from being killed or injured in industrial truck accidents.
Employers are now required to develop training programs or hire outside consultants to
provide required training for operation of industrial trucks. Once trained, these
operators must be certified and documentation must be retained for review by OSHA
compliance officers.
Training must include proper operation of the
vehicles; hazards of operating the vehicle in the workplace; and, the specific
requirements of the new OSHA forklift training Rule. Furthermore, employers must provide
refresher training if an employee operating an industrial truck is in an accident or a
near-miss incident; is observed driving in an unsafe manner; is determined during an
evaluation to need additional training; or, in response to changes in the workplace or the
type of industrial truck used by the operator. In other words, the operator must be
separately trained in each type of industrial truck or forklift he uses.
Employers are required to evaluate operators of
powered industrial trucks every three years and refresher training is triggered when the
three-year evaluation or a workplace change indicates the necessity.
The Final Rule covers a variety of powered
industrial trucks used to carry, push, pull, lift, stack or tier material. The Rule does
not cover vehicles used for earth moving or over-the-road hauling.
Accidents involving forklifts and other industrial
trucks are among the leading causes of workplace deaths in industrial settings, killing
more than 100 employees and causing more than 94,000 injuries each year. The Final Rule
will affect 1.5 million workers who operate industrial trucks. While all injuries will not
be prevented, OSHA anticipates that 9,500 injuries and 11 deaths will be prevented each
year if there is full compliance with the Final Rule.
