You can email me at Jcgr81~at~yahoo~dot com and I'll be happy to send you a copy of the corporate brochure that documents it. You are correct in that it doesn't specifically say that on the website. I'm not sure if I saw that on there before, or if I was remembering the brochure I have in front of me and thought it was from the website. Either way, I have this brochure from Toyota.

Yotaguy,

I would like to know exactly where you found that statistic? I checked out Toyota's website and didn't find any statement to that effect, so I just wanted to verify the accuracy. Below is an excerpt from their website, which talks of decreased tipover fatalities, but every lift truck manufacturer has done that. Please point me to the source.

"There are more than 100,000 SAS-equipped lift trucks in the field with over 450 million hours of operation. With an increased population of SAS-equipped trucks in the field and in conjunction with mandatory operator training, overturn fatalities across all brands have decreased by 13.6 percent since 1999." ~toyotaforkliftdotcom

1. Your country name : United States of America.

2. Does your country have laws and regulations regarding safe lift truck operation? Yes.

3. What is the name/number of the law or reg? 29 CFR 1910.178, et. al.

4. Does your country mandate the use of a seat belt for lift truck operators? Yes.

5. Does your country require licensing of LT operators. (e.g. You go to a gov't office to obtain it. No, but consistent with OSHA's intentions, I encourage employers to consider VOLUNTARY Licensing of operators.

6. IF NO for number 5. Does your country require training and qualification of lift truck operators? Yes, it requires training, evaluation and certification.

7. Is recertification required at some frequency? Yes, every three (3) years in the USA, and also occasioned by a change in work environment, any unsafe driving action by an operator, class of truck, incident related to a lift truck, and others that are specified in the rule, above.

8. Does your country require testing for LT operators?
a. Medical testing (fit for duty): No, not specifically for lift truck operators of 3PLs. Med testing is often a "voluntary" human resources hiring policy for the purpose of screening all employees hired at larger companies, Such medical testing carries with it a responsibility to abide by non-OSHA rules such as those from EEO, OFCCP, et.al.

b. Drug/alcohol testing: NO. This is also a VOLUNTARY policy and normal hiring practice at many companies in the USA and carries with it the same added responsibilities, as above.


In my opinion, medical and drug testing of forklift truck operators who are already on the job can be counter-productive, and often fails to solve the real problem of forklift fatality of the tip over kind (or any other type of forklift-related injury or callateral damage).

If you are going to test operators, I recommend rigorous ON-TRUCK testing; ensuring that the test is designed with content validity, has established inter-rater reliability, and is specific to the make & model as well as the specific tasks required on-the-job. Of course, such a testing practice requires some related training for experienced operators, is expensive to design and implement, and assures that operators are now able to keep themselves and others out of harm's way. Finally, it is important that the local management practices, as well as workplace engineering practices, encourage, rather than discourage, safe forklift operator actions.

Best wishes,

Joe Monaco
National LIFT Truck Operator Registry (LIFTOR)
jmonaco AT LIFTOR DOT com

Just as a note,

There has never been a tip-over fatality on a TOYOTA equipped with the System of Active Stability (SAS). Toyota even promotes this and has statistics on their website. The competition can say all they want about the system, but bottom line is that it works and it is virtually maintenance free.

1. Your country name United Kingdom
2. Does your country have laws and regulations regarding safe lift truck operation? Yes
3. What is the name/number of the law or reg? PUWER 1998, LOLER 1998
4. Does your country mandate the use of a seat belt for lift truck operators? Yes
5. Does your country require licensing of LT operators? Yes
7. Is recertification required at some frequency? Yes
8. Does your country require testing for LT operators? Yes