Forklift Safety Training

I'm not someone who is mechanically inclined. I can operate machines after I've been shown how but I'm not someone who takes to them immediately. So it was with some trepidation that I signed up for a forklift safety training course at Alliance Material Handling Inc. I signed up for the course because I wanted to be able to operate the forklifts the Washington D.C. SHARE has. Until you take the course, you're not suppose to operate a forklift though some people still do. Forklifts are incredible machines. They can enable the operator to easily move thousands of pounds of material from one place to another. At SHARE, they enable the people there to move thousands of pounds of palletized food from and to trucks arriving at SHARE. They also enable them to easily move the palletized food between its five bays. However, forklifts can be potentially very dangerous machines. Because of the way they're built, they can become very unstable very quickly and topple over. They can also cause severe injury if someone is hit by either one of the prongs of the cab part of the forklift. Because of this, safety training is a must. The forklift operator learns why the forklift is prone to toppling over, how it can be prevented, that the forklift CAN'T be driven like a car (the dynamics of each are radically different), and what is the biggest cause of accidents (surprisingly operator inattentiveness). My instructor Bill Wisham was very thorough in explaining all these things. He really wanted to make sure we understood how important safety is when operating a forklift. He saw his main job as an instructor was to ensure that we'd be able to go home in one piece every day after operating a forklift. After explaining all the safety aspects of a forklift, we got to actually drive one. For me, it was a nerve wracking experience. Driving a forklift is enormously different from driving a car. The rear part of a forklift swings out widely and you have to take that into account. You also need to be able to see in front of you. Sometimes, a load can block your view. In that case, you have to drive the forklift in reverse and look behind you. You also have to be aware how the prongs are pointed. If you're going down hill and have the prongs pointed down, your load could slip right off the forklift! Another safety aspect is remembering to always put the prongs down on the ground when you're done moving something. That way, someone doesn't walk right into them.

I felt Mr. Wisham was a fantastic teacher. He worked to make the course fun while at the same time hitting on how to operate a forklift safely. I feel as long as I practice the things Mr. Wisham taught me, I should be able to operate a forklift safely. Now, all I need is practice. I plan to get that at SHARE under Sam's supervision. In time, I should become a proficient forklift operator and have one more way I can help out at SHARE.