The BLS used to track fatalities by industry and had two relevant ones: "Industrial truck and tractor operators" and "Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand"
They both had about one fatality per 13,000 workers annually, which was about double the average rate.
bls.gov/iif/oshcfoiarchive.htm

Always wondered if there are any statistics detailing # of incidents, injuries and deaths in the workplace by those who were trained by a professional trainer vs. those who have been trained by an in-house trainer.

I am tired of these one day train the trainer scammers, and some outfits that all they do is train the trainer, believing that TTT is the answer. Make a quick buck and who cares.

Shouldn't be in the business, IMHO

You are right dan m but there will always be those that are unable to equate employee investment with profit. When I was an active trainer, I was often told by potential customers there was no way they were going to pay that much to train an employee considering the employee already could operate the forklift. Some managers equate the ability to put a machine in motion to operator competence. The figures in some of the posts in this forum could be used to "train" some managers.

Hunter

And they should get rid of many of these in-house trainers that do not even know forklifts themselves because they were trained by so-called trainers that don't know forklifts either. The blind leading the blind.

Do not understand that anybody can be a trainer. Maybe anybody can take a 1 day course and become a fighter pilot. You have to know what you are doing and many of these in-house trainers don't know. Not saying all, but many.

But at least the company saves a few hundred dollars by not having to bring us in every so often. What one saves in one hand quickly comes out the other

Perfect (great minds think alike) - you probably received an invite from me at the same time you sent me one lol. Will email you shortly. Thanks.

Hi Graham, no problem - you should now have a LinkedIn request from me if you would like to send something through

Amy I was chatting to Stuart today at the Scotland Works exhibition and he suggested I get in touch with yourself. Is there a way I can email you some information about a product proposal for you to consider?

I agree with amy a particularly the bracketed words "and those managing them." Only together can benefits be maximized. Forklift operators need a leader rather than a boss. Somehow a forklift's potential for carnage has been trivialized in many companies.

In our experience at Mentor FLT Training, these costs are difficult to quantify as they vary so much from case to case. For example, even the cost of a simple dropped pallet can vary greatly depending on the load in question - the stock value written off, replacement costs, the clean-up involved and associated down time will be significantly different depending on the contents (luxury, liquid, hazardous etc).

But what we do know is that these costs can be significantly reduced and the best way to do so is to ensure your operators (and those managing them) have the relevant skills and knowledge to work safely and efficiently.

Our MD has put together some articles on the subject containing various facts and figures which may be of interest, including:
http://flickread.com/edition/html/index.php?pdf=58ff6860f1287#48
http://flickread.com/edition/html/index.php?pdf=585915fcac54e#48

The latest edition of the National Safety Council, Injury Facts details injuries, fatalities along with all the costs associated with these. This publication is offered to all Members of the council and is available at NSC.org

yes. Speed is major factor for accidents. Operator must always be checked & warn for over speeding.
Ramesh Chauhan

There is another message for using forklift on road for longer distance,( from storage yard to work place ) better load with 50 % of rated capacity on fork & with proper locking.
Old Counter weights are more suitable for this.

one thing to also keep in mind with the thought of PIT accidents now versus 1992. today's AC powered lift trucks are significantly faster as well. I am sure that speed is a big factor in PIT accidents. I mean really 12 MPH in a reach truck...Are you nuts?

The following excerpts are from a magazine article I read many years ago but the financial thinking still applies today. Keeping people safe, reducing accidents, reducing damage, reducing downtime, reducing accidents obviously will save any company money. You will not get any argument from management, unions or employees about this. However, additional investments in safety must be justified like any investment that a company makes be it production machinery, facility improvements, material handling equipment, office equipment, etc. So safety managers must win support for the financial investment in a safety program and must provide management tangible proof of the economic gains the company accrues when it invests in safety equipment and programs. This can be done with very simple formulas. These are probably the same formulas that we use in our company today to assist our customers with figures that will be suitable to present to their board for decision. I hope this helps.
TerryW

After 10 years of working in distribution centers, I've witnessed first hand the extensive damage to racking. Corners get pounded over and over until the whole rack gets unstable. Many trucks were scrapped after repeated collisions, bending and twisting frames, or metal supports cracking. Most injuries were from ride on pallet trucks. saw a few people crush their ankles, hands or fingers. I know 2 driver's who are disabled for life from a transport driver suddenly pulling away from dock while they were unloading trailer. Counterbalanced truck drove straight out the open trailer onto the ground. Both drivers had permanent brain damage.
To cut damage costs, some customers are installing AVG's. Robotic forklift with no driver, no collisions, no sick time, no smoke breaks.
No job for a driver either!

What I have is from 2011 and it is cost based on unintentional injuries at work. It is $188.9 billion dollars in the US only. This does not include the product that is lost. This only includes lost dollars in wage and productivity, medical expenses,administrative expenses,employers uninsured cost,motor vehicle, and fire loss's. These do not include product and warehouse damages which I'm sure would add much more to the final number. A small incident in the warehouse goes a long way further then just that, there are administrative,missed orders and a whole line of issues that will cost your company in the end. ( some data gathered from the National Safety Council report 2011)