The Indiana Chamber of Commerce is keeping forklift safety in the forefront as part of its expanded emphasis on employee training conferences and other services.

A forklift safety train-the-trainer workshop "is one of the chamber's highest-attended one-day OSHA training seminars", says Tom Schuman, chamber vice president of communications and editor of the organisation's BizVoice magazine. "Despite the economy, safety is still a top priority for employers, and participation in (recent) programs (in May) was similar to previous years."

Safety Training and Consulting Inc provides content for the chamber's popular workshops on forklift safety, lockout/tagout electrical safety, and strain/sprain injury prevention. "The forklift safety workshop is offered twice each year and is often packaged with other safety-related programs in a two- or three-day period," Schuman notes. "The instructors adapt the content of the course to address the latest regulations," standards and recommended practices of the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and state and local agencies.

Companies keeping "up-to-date on forklift training can prevent injuries and avoid hefty fines from OSHA," the chamber suggests. "Forklift operators should receive training at least every three years to have the most current safety information." The Indianapolis-based chamber serves more than 26,000 members and customers annually.

William Pfister is president of Safety Training in Jasper, Indiana and an advisor for the twice-monthly OSHA Compliance Advisor workplace safety newsletter from Business & Legal Reports Inc of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. In 1997, Pfister started the safety training business and published a Forklift Safety book, now in its eighth edition. Previously beginning in the late 1980s, Pfister conducted forklift safety seminars as a representative of the State of Indiana Department of Labor.

Safety Training will conduct a 28 May forklift safety train-the-trainer workshop in Lexington, Kentucky under the auspices of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.