With No Government Benchmarks Employers Must Aim for Their Own High Standards

UK - It is one of the anomalies in the logistics sector that, in an age when Health and Safety issues are ever more high profile with the passing of time, that fork lift truck training is not actually mandatory, and that there is no official licensing body overseen by government, as with road going vehicles. The potential for injury, and even death, is an ever present in busy freight warehouses and, thankfully, the majority of those involved take their responsibilities seriously. Now one fork lift manufacturer has issued a timely reminder regarding properly supervised training on machines which have the potential to cause untold damage in the wrong or inexperienced hands.

Narrow Aisle, manufacturer of the Flexi range of articulated forklift trucks, is reminding truck users of the importance of ensuring that all forklift (FLT) truck operators are provided with high quality FLT driver training and, furthermore, that any training courses or schemes that they enrol their staff on to should be listed on the Accrediting Bodies Association’s (ABA) operator training register.

It is also essential that employers seeking to hire forklift operators, ask candidates to demonstrate that they have completed the appropriate basic forklift training courses and that these courses are ABA approved. Narrow Aisle expresses hope that the ABA register will become an archive of training records which will in turn lead to a reduction in the number of forklift related incidents, injuries and fatalities in the workplace.

Flexi Training’s own forklift and articulated driver training courses all exceed ABA approved standards and are designed to give new forklift and Flexi operators the confidence and skills to drive safely and efficiently to ensure that both safety and productivity targets are met. The courses combine theoretical and practical skills and incorporate the operator’s safety code operating practices, daily inspection procedures and elementary driving practice. Training on these machines is considered particularly important as they differ from the conventional counterbalance trucks having articulation to allow them to operate in the most confined spaces.

Under the Accrediting Bodies Association’s scheme, all operators completing novice forklift courses run by ABA associated training providers, such as one of Flexi Training’s fork truck operator courses with a further articulated training module, will be added to a national register. John Maguire, sales and marketing director of Flexi Narrow Aisle observed:

“When you are looking for training for your employees make sure that the training provider can demonstrate that its training programmes are ABA accredited. Look for the ABA logo on any literature they might produce, for example, which is a sign that the training is to a high standard.”