AVOID EMPLOYER CONFUSION

Most employers throughout the U.S. are demanding previous forklift operator training or certification from individuals making application for employment who want to operate forklift trucks. The OSHA Federal Regulation, CFR1910.178, para (L), Operator Training, Powered Industrial Trucks, clearly and repeatedly states that it is the employer’s responsibility to train and evaluate each operator regardless of previous experience or prior training.

All training must be site and equipment specific. The word CERTIFICATION appears only one time in the OSHA Powered Industrial Truck Regulation. It states:

“Certification - The employer shall certify THAT each operator has been trained and evaluated as required by this paragraph (L).”

The above word THAT, implies the process. The process being that the present and current employer is certifying to OSHA that each operator has been trained, tested, evaluated and authorized (again, site and equipment specific). During an OSHA audit or investigation, the employer, in most cases, will be required to provide certification.

The certification shall include:

• the name of the operator
• the date of training
• the date of the evaluation(s)
• the identity of the person(s) performing the training and evaluation

If OSHA finds the employer to be non-compliant or in willful violation, severe OSHA fines and penalties can be imposed. In the event of an injury or death accident, consider the implications of a liability lawsuit if you, the employer, are not in compliance or the accident resulted from an employer’s willful violation or gross negligence.



It makes sense to comply with the OSHA standards that are federally mandated. There is no way of knowing how or when an accident will occur but we do have the ability to provide safety training that will make operators aware of safe practices of operation thereby providing a safer working environment.