Rob Vetter is technical director and managing partner with the Ives Training Group, in Blaine, WA, USA, a leader in North American mobile equipment training systems since 1981.
Over the years I have trained many operators and trainers on all kinds of equipment, ranging from loaders to aerial equipment, cranes and forklifts.
If there were a common thread to every training session, it would be that, except on extremely rare occasions, the issue of why training needs to be done regularly surfaces.
It's natural for people to take a
what's in it for me stance because whenever anyone is told they must do something, they usually always require rationalisation. The last thing I want to do is start lecturing, so I'll give you abbreviated answers to the question of why train.
- Life and limb - No matter how you slice and dice it, the plain truth is that training saves lives, and there is no better rationalisation than that.
- Quality of life - Taking it down a notch from death, consider how your life would be affected if you lost the use of a limb, ruined your back or poked an eye out.
- Ethics - If the possibility of death or serious injury does not concern you, imagine being responsible for causing a tragedy in someone else's life ... could you live with that?
- Damage - Statistics from a raft of credible sources bear out the relationship between a lack of training and damage to product, equipment, structures and, worst of all, people.
- Money - Considering the money that can be saved by avoiding skyrocketing insurance rates, penalties and fines from regulatory authorities and/or possible costs associated with litigation, training is a wise investment.
- Regulations - Ensuring employees are properly trained is the law.
Despite the dollars and sense, the best reason to deliver and maintain safety training is that it is simply the right thing to do.