Danny Maron, owner/trainer of Ideal Forklift Training in Canada's national capital, is an independent consultant, providing the education lift truck operators require, to businesses and government, to minimise the chance of incidents in the workplace. Before founding Ideal in 2000, Danny was a trainer at Canada's largest forklift dealer.
In Ontario, Canada's largest province, the provincial government years ago brought in a law requiring all forklift operators in the province to be trained and deemed competent. The same goes across Canada, the USA, and I am sure, most European countries. However, the Ministry of Labour never put into law any training standards, leaving the door wide open for unscrupulous trainers to do whatever they wish. You have read samples of these during my past columns; however, I have one that puts the icing on the cake.
I was doing a series of sessions with a client back in April. One session involved a refresher for the sit-down counterbalance propane. The sessions were being held in their lunchroom, and staff would come and go during breaks and over the lunch period.
As I was ready to start the course, a young male individual, say 18 or 19 years of age, whom I recognised, was hanging out at the table. I asked why he was there and he quickly responded that he was there for the sit-down refresher course. I did not remember training him on that class of forklift, and he reminded me that I had trained him on the power walkie. So I asked him why he was there since his power walkie permit does not qualify him to attend the sit-down course, and he advised me that he was trained at a company in Toronto, the provincial capital and Canada's largest city, sometime last summer. His uncle, who is an electrician in Toronto, set up the session and they went to do their forklift training.
After a series of qualifying questions, I learned that he attended the course for a mere 10 minutes, simply to write a test with no instruction by the trainer. They wrote the test, paid the trainer, and received their permits. No driving test either. I called in the H&S manager, he explained to him what he had told me, and he was immediately yanked from the course.
Ten minutes, folks! Ten minutes to earn your so-called certification and away you go!
Why do so-called trainers do this? Why do businesses hire these crooks? People will spend countless hours researching a new digital camera which costs $200, yet when it comes to staff health and safety, it's just a matter of selecting the least expensive and the fastest!
Maybe I am in the wrong business. Maybe my standards are too high, and my morals even higher. Why do I compete with these types of businesses on a daily basis? Doesn't anybody really care? Do they do the training just because they have to? Would they prefer their staff to just run rampant, regardless of the consequences? I have been doing this for 12 years and I still do not have an answer.
It took the government over 10 years to determine that there were loopholes in the legislation, and as of April 1, 2012, a new bill, Bill 160 was passed, and now training standards will be mandated. When? I couldn't tell you since "fall arrest" is taking priority. I am hoping for accrediting the trainers as well, but I am not going to ask for too much.
Hopefully Bill 160 will resolve these issues.
My plan is to carry on the way I have always done. I will teach and assess each candidate, view their ability to fully and properly operate the lift trucks, and provide an objective assessment. Then, and only then, do I peacefully sleep at night, knowing I made the right decision.