by US correspondent Roger Renstrom

An Ontario forklift industry committee has submitted a 77-page document encouraging a provincial ministry to advocate for higher technician training and standards.

A 1998 provincial law set the groundwork for establishing the Powered Lift Truck Technician Industry Committee. The proposals culminate numerous meetings leading to the committee's recommendation for the trade of forklift technician to qualify as a restricted skill set.

Such a change would require new legislation.

The report was submitted to the Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities in early December, said Vasco Rebuli, committee chairman and parts and service manager with the industrial equipment division of Toyota Canada Inc, in Scarborough, Ontario.

Brian Garry, program coordinator with the agency's workplace training branch, said the Toronto-based ministry was reviewing the document. The proposal involving forklift technicians "is one of many suggested for restricted skill sets", Garry said.

He said what the committee had achieved over several years was remarkable, including, development of job training standards, in-school apprentice curricula and certification examinations. Representatives of nine companies and one person from Centennial College constitute the committee.

Currently Ontario has 50 people registered as apprentices in forklift-related positions, Garry said. Over the full gamut of 140 trades, the province has more than 72,000 active apprentices, including large contingents in automotive, hair styling and construction electrician positions.

The document includes 22 photographs of forklifts in industrial applications, seven photographs of accident scenes involving forklifts and 13 Ontario Ministry of Labour press releases about 2002-2005 fines for violations of the Occupational Health & Safety Act.

In March, Ontario said it would add 100 health and safety inspectors by 2008. "The new inspectors will allow the government to target 6,000 workplaces with the highest lost-time injury rates," a report said. "Inspectors will visit these sites four times a year, focusing on workplace hazards to help firms reduce on-the-job injuries."

About 240,000 forklifts operate daily in the province.