I believe "timing", "the appearance of OSHA compliance", and "training effectiveness" are related in important ways.

1. In regard to timing, I think one has to agree that---all other things being equal---the faster you can get operators to learn the training content, the more effective you are as a trainer. (This is NOT to say the FASTER you can DELIVER training! Obviously, just because we, the expert trainers, deliver it at all, is NO assurance the operator has actually learned to productively perform their job in a safe way.)

2. In regard to "the appearance of OSHA compliance", I have no quarrel with employers who see ""appearance" as the goal of forklift operator training. For me to quarrel with that typical goal is the same as saying those employers are disabled in their thinking---or---they are simply "disabled managers". (Employers frequently have to make decisions without all the facts---and they NEVER have funding for ALL possible goals.). So, whose disability it, and what exactly should we change?

I think the disability lies within the social or organizational "context" in which all of us have to operate. Although the OSHA Forklift Training rule (or any regulatory training) influences what is going to be possible, it does NOT have any affect until a manager, trainer, regulator, judge, jury, manufacturer, or operator INTERPRETS the rule AND sees it into practice.

If you can accept this, then you have to accept that the effectiveness of forklift operator training is a matter of choice. For example, you, or the informed employer, can limit forklift operator training to achieving OSHA safety compliance, OR you can set as a goal to improve both the safety and efficiency of the jobs requiring a forklift. The later "whole system" choice can change the economics of forklift operation, combine both safety AND operator speed, and improve the reputations of high-profile companies who can then put away their record of serious forklift-related injury and fatality.

Finally, I believe you are effective as a trainer, whether YOUR training and your CLIENT/EMPLOYER'S goal intersects at the point of "...appearance with OSHA Compliance", or at the point of whole system improvement. There may be other choices, too.

Best wishes,

Joe