Take a look around you. There's a good chance you work at a facility that uses a Powered Industrial Truck (PIT).
OSHA defines a PIT as "any mobile power-propelled truck used to carry, push, pull, lift, stack or tier materials." Most people think of PITs as forklifts. Though forklifts come in many shapes and sizes, they are all regulated under OSHA's PIT standard, 29 CFR § 1910.178. PITs also include manlifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts and motorized hand trucks. Though this article will often refer to forklifts, the requirements apply to all PITs. Earth moving and over the road haulage trucks are not included in the definition of PIT. Equipment that was designed to move earth but has been modified to accept forks are also not included.
Forklifts present many potential hazards: a pedestrian can be struck by a forklift; a load can fall off a forklift onto a person or the operator; the forklift can fall off a ledge or tip if driven on an uneven surface; a forklift can fall between a loading dock and a truck trailer. Frequently, an accident involving a forklift results in serious injury or a fatality. To address these hazards, OSHA sets out a comprehensive set of standards for training, maintenance, and operation of forklifts. OSHA also requires initial certification and recertification of forklift drivers every three years. If forklift certifications or maintenance records are falsified, OSHA has a history of seeking criminal sanctions to enforce its standards.
This article will briefly outline OSHA's requirements for use of forklifts in the workplace and will discuss a case where an employer falsified forklift maintenance records, resulting in criminal sanctions.
OSHA'S TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
OSHA's Powered Industrial Trucks Standard requires that "The employer shall ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely..." The Standard also requires that operators receive training in the topics which are applicable to the safe operation of the truck in the employer's workplace. Employees must be trained separately for each different type of forklift they will be using, but they do not need to complete separate training for the same type of forklift made by a different manufacturer.
The Standard further requires an employer to develop a written program to train all employees who will be required and authorized to operate forklifts as to the hazards of such equipment. Employers must conduct classroom-type training and actually observe the employee operating the equipment under the...
