Usually, new year’s resolutions such as going to the gym more and following a healthy diet may fall by the wayside as soon as February rolls around, so instead make it your resolution to keep any of your staff from being involved in a serious accident this year. This isn’t something you can afford to compromise on, as the safety of your staff and those around them depends on it.
If you want to ensure the safety of your workforce and reduce the risk of dangerous practice, it’s time to draw up a forklift training plan for 2025 and stick to it. But what needs to be on it?
Well, any company’s training strategy must be tailored to its own operations and processes to ensure it’s relevant to its staff, equipment and environment. To help highlight your areas for improvement, ask yourself the following key questions. If you answer ‘no’ to any of these, they should become fundamental to this year’s training plan…
- Do you understand and provide all three elements of forklift operator training required by the Approved Code of Practice, L117? Basic, specific job and familiarisation?
- Do all forklift operators receive regular refresher training? Not just periodically, but if their equipment/task/environment changes, or they have a near miss?
- Do pedestrians working in proximity to forklift trucks receive forklift safety awareness training — even if they only occasionally use the same area?
- Are temporary workers given sufficient training to familiarise themselves not just with the truck and the task, but the site itself and the potential hazards?
- Are your managers trained to recognise bad practice and confident enough to intervene? Do they understand the practical, legal and financial consequences of unsafe operations and any resulting accidents?
Put safety at the forefront of your mind this year
Once your areas of improvement have been established, include them in your training plan and make this the year that you make positive changes towards them.
Before you finalise your plans, don’t underestimate the value of talking to your team, to see what they feel can be improved on. Find out what would help them to do their job more safely. This may involve training to help raise their awareness, provide vital skills and knowledge or remind them of best practice.
Don’t wait for an accident to happen before providing your staff with training. Act now and take a vital step towards creating a safe, compliant and productive workplace for the long-term. You cannot afford to ignore it.
After all, it is a bit like joining a gym. A few sessions here and there might make you feel like you’re achieving something, but – without ongoing commitment – you won’t get the best results. Regular training keeps your entire workforce sharper, and gets your operation fighting fit, so it’s running more leanly and efficiently.
With a variety of courses and support services available for operators, managers, and pedestrians alike, we regularly help companies of all types and sizes come up with tailored plans to ensure safe, effective operations for the long-term. And with over 35 years of experience, we deliver training that you can trust, providing you with total assurance of standards and full confidence of compliant operations.
So, think about how you’d like your company to look in 12 months’ time, then get in touch and speak to one of our expert advisors who can guide you towards the perfect training solution for your specific needs.