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.
When professional safety trainers enter a business to offer their knowledge regarding the safe and proper use of powered industrial forklifts, what are the criteria in deeming someone competent to operate the trucks in question?
Well, a series of written tests, specific to the class of truck being trained upon, and a review of their driving abilities and habits are essential. According to CSA B335-94 and CSA B335-04, a practical session must take place in order for the assessor to determine the participant's ability to properly and safely operate the forklift.
Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong! I have experienced countless times when students who have never been subjected to a practical test are handed a permit upon completion of the course. How does one issue a certificate or permit to an individual without reviewing their skills?
I have been questioning this practice for the past almost 10 years, but have come up short on answers. I am not an expert in the delinquent training practices of others, but an expert when it comes to my training. No-one, and I mean no-one, is issued a permit until such time that they have satisfied my agenda in deeming someone competent to operate the truck. Isn't that obvious? Isn't that ever so simple? I think so, but some others don't! And it is such a pity that these trainers are getting away with such ignorant practices.
Oh, how I wish both the provincial and federal governments, in the US and Canada, would use a finer pen when drafting the laws that govern powered industrial lift trucks. Maybe the trainers, in Canada and North America, should be evaluated and followed up to ensure that the training is delivered in a sincere and proper manner. And that the testing is completed in a fashion whereby the instructor does witness the driving forward and reverse, acquiring and depositing elevated and lowly placed loads, manoeuvring the truck around personnel and obstacles, and parking the forklift in the proper fashion.
Is that too much to ask?