As part of our commitment to health and safety Dales Water undertake various training courses throughout the year. With several staff taking a manual handling course in the Spring this week saw some of our drilling & maintenance team taking part in an onsite forklift training day.
The course was provided by Livius Training and carried out at our premises in Melmerby. This had several advantages from both a cost point of view and not requiring staff to travel off site. It also meant staff would be trained in a real working environment where the forklift is used on a daily basis.
Working with an ITSSAR-registered & accredited trainer our team were trained on one of our own counterbalance fork lift trucks as part of a 1 day course. All Dales Water employees that work with plant machinery are issued with the correct PPE.
What Does the Forklift Course Entail?
- Induction & Healthy and Safety Rules – a general overview of the safe use of operating equipment.
- Health and Safety Legislation – learn the various health and safety laws in relation to the safe use of equipment in the workplace.
- Safety rules applicable to ForkLift trucks
- Stability factors- how to keep the truck in its most stable condition
- Introduction to Driving- Identifying parts and explain what each one does.
- Stacking, De-stacking & Driving in Open and Closed areas- Driving in confined areas, picking-up and putting down loads of varying weights and levels.
- A multiple-choice style test to test knowledge gained.
- Practical test – to test competency in driving the Forklift Truck safely in the workplace.
Why Did We Take the Course?
As a business we take health and safety of both our staff and the general public very seriously. It’s extremely important that Dales Water employees are competent at their jobs and are fully trained to carry them out safely.
Private water supplies, manual lifting and driving plant machinery at a drilling site all carry associated risks so it’s important our staff know the risks and the precautions that must be taken to avoid injury to themselves, colleagues and the general public.
Successful completion of the forklift training course also means that we meet the Employers Relevant Statutory Requirements under Section 2 of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
It also means we are compliant with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; whereby employers are required to ‘ensure that all persons who use work equipment have received adequate training for purposes of health and safety, including training in the methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be taken.’
We’d like to say thanks to Livius Training for providing the on-site training and making the day both educational and enjoyable. But also, more importantly, ensuring our drilling team can operate their counterbalance fork lifts both safely and efficiently.
