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.
I have in the past shared my disdain for in-house trainers, and those who train them. I have yet to meet an in-house trainer I liked, but I have not met them all. In Canada, as well as in the USA, anyone (and I mean anyone) with the knowledge, training and experience can train others. There are a few added extras, but since these added extras are not enforced, then I guess these stipulations are not a requirement.
My first inquiry of the year, just after the Christmas/New Year break, was from a nice lady who called and asked about a Train The Trainer program. Before I could utter my response, I was beaten to the first punch, and she immediately advised me that the person to be trained is a long-time employee. That is my usual first question. I then asked her how many individuals her company has on the floor, and she said three!!
I then asked her if her company was expanding and if there were to be more operators, and her response was a resounding 'yes'. Maybe as many as five! I asked her why she would want an in-house trainer for as few as five staff, and the response was that it was what her company (management) wanted. I quoted her a fee, and have not heard back. Maybe my price was too high, or a four-day course was too long, or both.
So what is the issue here? Someone with the knowledge, training and experience can become an in-house trainer. Based on the number of staff the company has, or will have, how much experience will this person have, especially when the refresher training is done once every three years? I would have to say that the experience is negligible: putting on a session for three to five people every three years. Imagine flying from New York to Tokyo with a pilot who only pilots a plane once every three years!
Experience should mean consistency; practising the same duty regularly and to perfection. I cannot vouch for the perfection as I was not chosen, but I can definitely speak volumes for the lack of time, repetitiveness and continued practice that this person will possess.
Which brings me to the travelling vagabond show that rocks up here every so often, to a local hotel/motel, and for less than CAD500, a business can send an employee to become an in-house trainer. By the way, the fee includes lunch and refreshments. And there is no forklift at the hotel/motel. And all this can be done in less than seven hours - sometimes as little as six - and don't forget the lunchtime/refreshment time. I am not here to judge the training company, but come on, we all know that it takes a full day or more just to train an operator, never mind a trainer.
Anyone can become a trainer. 20-70 years old, male/female, IQ of 6 or 140. Nobody cares! One has to wonder why serious, dedicated professional trainers even care any more about putting in a ton of effort, do the research and put together presentations, manuals and Records of Training if anyone out there can do it. Why train every week when you can have someone in-house train once every three years, and expect that the operators are educated properly regarding forklift safety to the highest degree? Why put in the effort to ensure operators have a full and complete knowledge regarding the safety issues, load-handling skills and engineering dynamics, when ANYONE (and I mean anyone) can become a trainer? And I mean anyone! Who cares?
When the monkeys stop running the zoo and the zookeeper becomes the one in charge, maybe some decency will come to our industry, whereby incidents, injuries and deaths, will become a thing of the past. As long as the monkeys run the zoo, insurance premiums will rise, government insurance board rates will rise, which will end up costing us all a lot more than the $500.00+Tax, refreshments and lunch included!