Forklift Safety

September 19, 2018 10:00 am

A commonly used tool on many roofing projects is a rough terrain telescopic forklift commonly referred to as a “Lull” (which is a brand name). We will focus this webinar on this style of forklift. During many inspections of roofing contractor jobsites across the country, HC&A has found a concerning trend. While employees are being “trained and certified” to operate these forklifts, in many cases they fail to perform the necessary requirements to ensure safety while operating these dangerous machines.

Inspections have found many forklifts are not inspected daily, and are often used with damage which should render the lift as unsafe for use. This includes soft tires, broken glass and mirrors, lacking seatbelts, damaged backup alarms and more. We find many “certified” forklift operators fail to use and fully understand load charts. We find many forklifts that don’t even have load charts in the cab! Most concerning is we find forklifts used improperly to hoist personnel.
What is necessary for forklift training and certification? How can roofing contractors assess the competency of their forklift operators to ensure they have had adequate training, retained the knowledge and are using it in the field?
Over this one hour webinar participants will be provided with information pertaining to the certification/training requirements for forklift operators, tips for evaluating their forklift operator’s competency/ability levels and an overview on load charts and their importance in determining if a load can be safely hoisted. Additional topics to be reviewed consist of:
– Inspections of Forklifts
– Forklift Attachments
– Hoisting Personnel

*Please note: This webinar is NOT sufficient or designed to certify an employee to operate a forklift. It is for awareness purposes only.

Speaker: Peter Shackford Director of Safety & Risk Control Hettrick, Cyr, & Associates