Forklift News - David Hoover: Stand up and be responsible!

From the time we were young, most of us learned that we would be held accountable for our actions. As kids, if we stayed out too late or wrecked the car, we knew had to live with the consequences of our actions. When things got damaged around the house, my parents insisted someone step forward to accept responsibility. Although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I now do and expect the same from my children.

What happens in today’s world when forklifts, buildings and products are damaged and no one is held accountable? It becomes acceptable and the number of people causing unreported damage grows substantially. It is not uncommon to come across situations where an incident has occurred and, rather than report it and deal with the consequences, it was easier and less painful to cover it up. The picture below shows a forklift with the carriage and rotator attachment ripped off. The operator tied the assembly up to allow it to be moved and anonymously dropped it off in front of the in-house forklift repair shop. The subsequent repairs cost many thousands of dollars and no one ever admitted to the incident nor what had caused it.

So what can be done about unreported damage? I suggest attacking it in several steps.

Facilities need to let people know that reported damage will be treated much differently than unreported damage. A distribution centre told me an employee who damaged up to USD10,000 of merchandise and reported it received a written warning and refresher training. But damaging only USD500 of materials and not reporting it resulted in immediate termination of employment. That sent a clear message and the result was that people owned up to their mistakes and situations that resulted in damage were corrected. After implementing this policy the centre saw damage drop dramatically and profitability rose.

Track all damage. Many companies tell me how many incidents they have, but few can pinpoint what these cost. Depending on the situation, size of the company, and type of product, I have seen damage range from thousands to millions of dollars, especially when products being handled are costly. If you don’t measure your damage, you won’t know how much money you are losing and you have no way to justify spending money to correct the situation.

Depending on how implementation of suggestions one and two go, you may need to take it a step further. Many companies implement forklift management systems that control authorised operator access, identify who was driving when an impact occurred and assist with pre-shift inspections. These systems vary widely in price and features and none is the perfect solution for everyone so research is required to find the right one for your wants and needs. Keep in mind that the system is just a means for collecting data and how you manage your system and enforce your rules will be the key to success.

Companies need to expect employees to be honest about incidents. They need to treat employees fairly when incidents occur and get rid of people who can’t live by the rules. For more information on the types of systems available, contact Dave Hoover of Forklift Training Systems at dhoover@forklifttrainingsystem.com.

David Hoover is president of Forklift Training Systems Inc, a US safety company specialising in site and forklift safety training, training trainers, custom program development and cutting-edge forklift safety products. Contact David Hoover.

Discuss Forkliftaction.com News stories in the Discussion Forums!