OSHA again cites training for forklift violations

Inadequate operator training accounted most frequently for federal forklift-related violations, the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) said.

Statistics for the year to September 30 repeated OSHA’s findings on citations for forklift violations in past years.

Showing a slight y ear-to-year improvement, operator training accounted for 562 of the 2006 fiscal year’s 3,080 total forklift violations, compared to 568 training-related citations in the previous year’s 3,115 total forklift violations.

Other than training, OSHA issued the most forklift violations during fiscal 2006 for operating an unsafe vehicle, 418; lack of vehicle certification, 375; missing triennial evaluation of operator performance, 256; and untimely frequency of inspections, 223.

Other fiscal 2005 forklift violations included lack of vehicle certification, 399; operating an unsafe vehicle, 350; missing triennial evaluation of operator performance, 251; and untimely frequency of inspections, 242.

“The biggest issue for powered industrial trucks (forklifts) is lack of training,” Richard Fairfax, director of OSHA enforcement programs, said on November 7 while discussing OSHA’s top 10 violations program at the National Safety Council annual congress, in San Diego.

Forklifts ranked sixth among OSHA violation categories for fiscal 2006.

Topping forklifts were scaffolding incidents, 9,012; hazard communication, 6,704; fall protection, 6.378; respiratory protection, 4,332; and lockout/tagout cases, 3,659.

Earlier OSHA reporting periods for forklifts showed 569 violations for operator training of 3,130 total violations for fiscal 2004; 501 of 2,774 for 2003; and 371 of 2,421 for 2002.

In 1999, OSHA revised an existing regulation and upgraded requirements for detailed training for forklift operators.  Typically, equipment manufacturers provided guidance to sources of training for particular forklift models.

Beginning in 2004, OSHA and the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), of Washington, DC, formed an alliance to focus on safe operation of powered industrial trucks, including forklifts.  The alliance developed sample daily checklists to assist in providing training on OSHA operator standards for the equipment.  OSHA and ITA renewed the alliance in April.