It will be interesting to see the results of the Ontario safety blitz mentioned in the news story "Ontario targets forklifts in safety blitz" in Forkliftaction.com newsletter 447, February 4, 2010.
Listed below is additional information from the Ontario Ministry of Labour e-magazine "Newsroom":
Blitz Focus
Ontario Ministry of Labour inspectors will pay particular attention to industrial sectors where incidents most often occurred. These include:
* Retailers
* Wholesalers
* Transportation
* Automotive
* Wood and Metal Fabrication
* Food, Beverage and Tobacco
* Offices and Related Services (employment agencies that supply non-clerical labour to industrial workplaces)
* Chemical, Rubber and Plastics
* Industrial Services
* Utilities
* Mushroom Farms and Greenhouse Operations
Ministry inspectors will also target workplaces:
* Identified as being high-priority due to possible lifting devices and forklift hazards;
* Known to have highly hazardous processes and equipment;
* Where complaints have been received; and
* Where there is a poor compliance history.
Priorities
Inspectors will focus on the following key priorities:
* Lifting Device Inspection and Maintenance: Inspectors will check to ensure employers are maintaining equipment in good condition to prevent mechanical or operational failures, undertaking repairs as necessary and examining lifting devices to determine their load capacity. They will also check to ensure lifting devices are adequately built and equipped to ensure the safety of workers.
* Operation of the Lifting Device by a Qualified Person: Inspectors will check to ensure workers have the training, knowledge and experience to operate lifting devices and that forklift trainees are accompanied by a trained individual. Inspectors will review training records and question workers and their supervisors on their familiarity with the equipment being used in the workplace, procedures for working in the vicinity of lifting devices and possible hazards. It is the employer's responsibility to ensure workers operating lifting devices are up-to-date on required training.
* Safe Work Environment: Inspectors will check to ensure employers are taking specific reasonable precautions to protect workers who are working in the area of forklifts and lifting devices. This may require the use of protective barriers, qualified signal persons, warning signs or other safeguards. Employers should conduct a comprehensive workplace assessment of vehicular and pedestrian traffic to determine appropriate safeguards to use in their workplace.
Showing items 1 - 10 of 10 results.
Hi Dan et al
It's interesting that the experiences of safety professionals around the world are similar. I was engaged by a large paper and cardboard manufacturer to undertake three forklift refresher training courses - these were to include hazard identification and risk assessments with the forklift drivers during a walk around their work area and an inspection of their forklifts. The equipment included 7000 kg forklifts with large roll paper grabs lifting 2850 kg paper rolls. I observed the stacks of paper rolls were too high for the forklift lift height and that operators were in fact lifting two paper rolls at once with a total of 3400 kg. In addition none of the forklifts were plated for paper roll grab use. My quick calculation showed the forklifts were in fact being overloaded. I reported this to the company. They contacted me next day to say I was wrong about the forklift capacity "because the company who leased the units said so." I rang the forklift manufacturer, gave them the grab make and model, and they confirmed the forklifts were being overloaded - maximum capacity = 3090 kg. I advised the company and they accepted that information and at the same time told me they did not need me to do the second and third courses!
However that does not stop me being upfront and honest about forklift safety issues. I have found the best process is to say that I cannot tell them what to do as they are the ones who have to manage company risks including safety risks and commercial risks et cetera. As a result in identifying hazards all I can do is alert them to the same - they are the ones that must decide what to do about them. I then detail my observations and if requested give advice about what they could do.
I believe that you have a moral obligation to tag the truck out if you feel, in your professional opinion, that it is unsafe. It make come back to bite you either because:
A) Your analysis was incorrect
B) The client may be upset with you and choose to use another source for their repairs.
Just as I cannot go to the Ministry of Labour and report that certain people are not competent to operate the forklift, who are certainly doing so. The repercussions can be a blow to my business. I come out looking like a RAT and if word gets around, I am in trouble.
I stuck my nose into a client's business spring of last year because their data plate on a 5000lb stand up CB read 2600 pounds. They purchased this truck to lift pallets weighing as much as 3700 pounds. It is illegal to exceed the rated capacity of the lift truck, and that was what they were doing, unknowingly. Now possibly they could acquire these loads up to a certain height, but the data plate showed the height being 240in. Was not worth the backlash I received from a couple of other members in the technical arena, and I probably should have let it pass.
In this business, you do the right thing, and you never win!
CLTL -
Should you deem a forklift as unsafe to operate during your Lifting Device Inspection (LDI) activity, I would think you have both a moral and legal obligation to tag the equipment out of service and most likely you could be held liable for any incident that occurred from failure to do so.
I would recommend you tag the forklift out of service and notify the employer who is using the forklift as well as your employer of the unsafe equipment to protect yourself from any future civil/criminal liability or personal Ontario OHSA fine/order (citation). Make sure you document your action, dates, times. persons notified, and equipment defects and keep a record for yourself (CYA).
_____
The following Ontario OHSA regulation applies to you as an employee:
Occupational Health and Safety Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario (R.S.O.) 1990, CHAPTER O.1
Duties of workers
28. (1) A worker shall,
(a) work in compliance with the provisions of this Act and the regulations;
(b) use or wear the equipment, protective devices or clothing that the worker's employer requires to be used or worn;
(c) report to his or her employer or supervisor the absence of or defect in any equipment or protective device of which the worker is aware and which may endanger himself, herself or another worker; and
(d) report to his or her employer or supervisor any contravention of this Act or the regulations or the existence of any hazard of which he or she knows.
_____
If the forklift you are working on is leased, rented, or on loan from your employer, etc. the following Ontario OHSA regulation applies to your employer:
Occupational Health and Safety Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario (R.S.O.) 1990, CHAPTER O.1
Duties of suppliers
31. (1) Every person who supplies any machine, device, tool or equipment under any rental, leasing or similar arrangement for use in or about a workplace shall ensure,
(a) that the machine, device, tool or equipment is in good condition;
(b) that the machine, device, tool or equipment complies with this Act and the regulations; and
(c) if it is the person's responsibility under the rental, leasing or similar arrangement to do so, that the machine, device, tool or equipment is maintained in good condition.
_____
You can discuss violation reporting with:
Ontario Ministry of Labor
Occupational Health and Safety Inquiries
Province-wide: 1-800-268-8013 (Ontario Only)
Interesting...maybe some of my customers will smarten up and allow me to properly LDI their trucks....
I've been looking around and couldn't find no information...but is there any terms or by any means that i (the mechanic) can legally tag out a forklift from a customer and is there anyone i can report unsafe practise and issues about forklifts to...
Permits have become industry standard, not the law. The Record of Training is the all important document and employers may issue certificates to facilitate the identification of trainees. However, a permit only becomes a convenience for an operator who is working off site from the record of training and when called upon, can present it to the ministry.
A fellow in SW Ontario who is a trainer has a portion of the first page of his internet site dedicated to the belief that Ontario forklift operators do not require a permit to operate a forklift.
Since the corporation must ensure that all of its forklift operators have been trained and deemed competent to operate the forklift in question, then the onus is on the employer to prove, when called upon, that they have done their due diligence by taking the time, effort and expense to go through this process.
But nothing in the law or CSA guidleines state that a permit must be issued by the instructor, although we all do.
I even laminate the card and put their picture on it as well.
just watched the video do they actually go out there and visit facilities?
i noticed the lady didn't ask to view the operators permit/license.
dan m -
Instead of waiting for your phone to ring you should be going to the Ontario Ministry of Labour and selling them an 8 hour training session for their 430 health and safety inspectors on forklift hazards and safe operation. If they are like most governmental agencies, they most likely have miscellaneous training sessions scheduled quarterly and often use trainers from outside the agency.
Below is a typical Ontario OHSA forklift health and safety inspection:
Google: Ontario Inspects Forklifts for Safety
Click URL
Under Spotlight at bottom of page click: Ontario Inspects Forklifts for Safety
Under the resultant video frame click: Read the text of this video where a Ministry of Labour health and safety inspector talks about what she looks for during a forklift inspection.
And with so very few trainers, even less qualified trainers in my region, you'd think that my phone would be ringing off the hook.
I'm still waiting............
The following additional information comes from "Safe at Work Ontario", Issue #3, January 2010:
Ministry to launch forklifts and lifting devices safety blitz.
Forklifts and lifting devices continue to cause serious - sometimes fatal - injuries to workers in Ontario's industrial sector workplaces. In February, the Ministry of Labour will carry out a repeat of last year's successful Forklift and Lifting Devices blitz in the industrial sector. In the 2009 blitz, Ministry of Labour inspectors issued a high number of orders, at 3,155, and 182 stop-work orders.
Workplace injuries and fatalities can usually be traced to a few root causes. The ministry's proactive inspection blitzes on sector-specific hazards are designed to raise awareness and increase compliance with health and safety legislation.
The Forklifts and Lifting Devices blitz will generally focus on three priorities: lifting device inspection and maintenance, operation of the lifting device by a competent person and a safe work environment.
This year, there will be an enhanced focus on supervisor and operator training. Inspectors will be talking with operators and their supervisors to determine their level of understanding of the hazards involved with the work, and their level of competence to perform and supervise work in a manner that does not endanger any worker.
It may be tempting to see lifting device operators as responsible for accidents and, thus, better training as the means to safer operations. But, it is important to recognize that training, although essential, will not be enough to eliminate accidents. To be most effective, operator training should be part of a larger comprehensive safety program that includes:
* hazard identification
* training (of supervisors, lifting device operators and those working near lift trucks, cranes, etc.)
* supervision
* operating procedures
* maintenance and repair procedures
* facility design, and
* lift truck/lifting device selection criteria
Although the employer is responsible for implementation of the program, all the workplace parties should be involved in its development. The joint health and safety committee or health and safety representative - where there is one - along with supervisors and workers, should all be involved not only in the development of rules and procedures to prevent injuries, but in identifying the causes of accidents and "near misses." They should also all be involved in monitoring lifting devices safety improvements.
That should be good for Dan_M
Maybe now he will get his customers to be more realistic about what constitutes Proper Forklift Operator Training, and allow him more Training Time.
Good Luck Dan Hopes this means better times for you.
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