In the Fall 2011 IVES Update Newsletter we introduce you to our New Look, address Forklift Operations in Alberta, inform you about new materials development, share a new What’s Wrong With This Photo?, and give an Answer to Last Month’s, tell you about our Aerial Books Going International, share a new Ask Bob, and some US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
New Look… New Direction… New IVES
No company is impervious to change. This became abundantly apparent across the globe within the past three years, as economic circumstances took their toll. Many companies had to fight hard to stay afloat, and some simply couldn’t make it. For IVES, the lessons learned from fighting through the hard times have actually provided us with inspiration and renewed motivation.
We realized that the world was no longer the same place it had been a few months earlier. Things that had worked in the past may no longer be viable for our future. We re-evaluated our circumstances, took a hard look at our new reality, and decided to re-invent ourselves. Out of undesirable economic circumstances, we are proud of where we have ended up.
So here we are with our new face (hope you like it), our new philosophy and our new direction. What remains the same is our commitment to the four pillars of the IVES Training System; Integrity, Value, Expertise, and Support. These words are not merely the individual components of our name and company, they are our promise to you, and that will never change.
However, some other significant things have changed. As you’ve already seen, the colors and logo that have served us so well as the face of our company have given way to a new and refreshed look. The bold styling of our new logo symbolizes our bold direction within the industry, and our new colors speak to the strength and energy of our company. From our business cards to our website, you’ll soon see this new look take form in all of our company’s materials.
Another significant change you will experience soon will be a new IVES offering called Verified Operator Training. Once again, IVES will be raising the bar by elevating the acceptable standard of mobile equipment training. Although it’s still a bit too early to provide exhaustive details, we’ll be sure to keep you informed over the next few months as we get closer to the launch date. One thing that we can say is that all IVES Certified Trainers will have an opportunity to participate in this exciting new endeavor. You can bookmark www.ivestraining.com to keep on top of updates, and check your email for our upcoming IVES Safety Bulletins and further information.
“No matter what type of business you are involved with, in this day and age, you absolutely must have an online presence,” says Jim Smith, IVES General Manager. “We are planning to maximize the effectiveness of our current programs and materials by supplementing them with online products.” IVES Director of Training, Rob Vetter agrees, “I don’t think anything will ever come along that will be better than live training delivered by a knowledgeable and capable trainer, but the possibilities available through online augmentation are astounding, and they are only going to grow.” Vetter and Smith share the same vision of offering industry an alternative, not a replacement, to traditional training. The two also share the belief that any company doing business in the 21st century has to able to integrate with technology to remain current and continue to be relevant.
Computerized elements will also eventually make their way into traditional classroom settings as well, with more interactive lessons and visually stimulating accompaniment. Classes, such as our Trainer Recertification Program that presently have no hands-on component, will be enhanced by interactive exercises designed to challenge and evaluate a Certified Trainer’s observation and evaluation skills with pre-recorded, equipment-specific operator evaluation exercises.
We are very proud of IVES’ history as a company, but recognize that it’s simply imprudent to stay the old course while the world changes around us. We look forward to exploring and developing new and innovative ways to deliver quality training that matters to the people that need it. We will also continue to develop and carefully maintain our current products and services so that in the end, we will have more ways of delivering the IVES promise to you, our most valued customers.
Rob Vetter
Director of Training
IVES Training Group
Pressure on for Safer Forklift Operations in Alberta
The Province of Alberta’s recent focused inspections of forklift operations show a need to increase compliance with existing laws, the Employment and Immigration Ministry says.
At the same time, the Ministry believes awareness of the inspection blitz has moved things in the right direction and says reports from forklift trainers indicate a substantial increase in demand for operator training since the province announced the campaign in February. The campaign from February 22 to March 18 involved 87 employers and 181 inspections and resulted in 214 corrective orders relating to forklifts and other powered mobile equipment.
Some are critical of the government’s efforts and suggest that Alberta institute a mandatory system for training and certification of forklift operators. In response to this criticism, the Ministry notes that forklift operators already must undergo mandatory training under Alberta regulation.
While forklift trainers routinely issue certificates to operators who have successfully completed training programs, the government has no current plans to make it mandatory for a forklift operator to personally carry his or her certificate. Rather than asking to see training certificates, officers use observations of forklift operations to assess whether workers are competent to operate the equipment safely as required by the regulation.
Of the 214 orders, 24 were related to requirements for proper inspection and maintenance, 20 for failure to conduct a visual inspection prior to operating the equipment, 16 for hazard assessment requirements and 14 for inadequate worker training, competency and proper supervision to safely operate the equipment.
To support employers, the government of Alberta developed a 48-page Forklift Health and Safety Best Practices Guideline that was completed in December and can be found online at, http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB-bp015.pdf
Plain Language Operator Materials Under Development
A recent customer satisfaction survey we conducted revealed that too many of our customers felt that the language used in the Operator Reference Manuals was too complicated for most of the trainees that read it. We branded the survey a success since it identified an area where we could improve. We took action by beginning the process of simplifying the language in all of our publications starting with the aerial lift books (boom, scissor and combined). You will probably see the first of them in the field by the spring of 2012. We will also make the appropriate changes on the operator theory test answer keys in the Trainer’s Manual and post the affected pages on our website for you to download and insert in your manual.
What’s Wrong With This?
Look at the photo below, see if you can spot what the trainer behind the forklift is doing wrong while his operator trainee completes a pre-use inspection of the forklift. There is more than one issue going on with the trainer here so be sure to take a good look! You’ll find the answers in the next edition of the IVES Update.
Incident Report
Notre Dame, Ind., July 2011
The University of Notre Dame will pay a $42,000 fine in the death of a 20-year-old film and marketing major while he worked as the football team’s videographer. At Indiana OSHA’s request, the university agreed to launch an education initiative on the safe use of scissor lifts. The university will make an undisclosed contribution to the victim’s memorial fund and designate a liaison between Notre Dame’s athletic department and risk-management division to ensure employees are properly trained. The university will also provide Indiana OSHA with a list of areas on campus where scissor lifts are in use and provide a refresher course for all lift operators. Notre Dame has also banned the use of lifts to record practices and replaced them with a remote-controlled camera system.
ChicagoTribune.com
The second tragedy here is that this had to happen to spur action. ed.
Forklift Incident Destroys a Million $ of Fine Wine
More than $1,000,000 of fine wine was destroyed after a forklift in Australia dropped a container smashing most of the bottles. The winery owner says he’s “gut-wrenched, shocked and numb” after losing a third of his flagship shiraz. All but one of the 462 US-bound cases was destroyed in the incident. Each bottle sells for $200. Those on the scene said that when workers opened up the dropped container, “It was like a murder scene. There was red everywhere.” “But,” he adds, “it smelled phenomenal.” He said the wine was fully insured. The accident will also affect the wine market in Australia.
guardian.co.uk
Here is a toast to the fact that nobody was hurt. ed.
Aerial Books Go International
If you use our Aerial Boomlift, Scissor Lift or Aerial Lifts (combined) Operator Reference Manuals, you will soon notice that they are now Canada/US friendly. Up until now, they were specifically made for use in their respective countries.
“The true driver from a regulatory standpoint are the ANSI A92 standards,” says Rob Vetter of IVES. “ANSI standards are referenced by regulation all across the US and in most of Canada. Even in Ontario (Canada) where CSA standards are the rule, there is so much similarity that it just doesn’t make any sense to continue to produce aerials books that are specific to the US or Canada. By going this route, the aerial books have become more user friendly, especially for companies with operations in both countries with a need to train Americans and Canadians,” Vetter concluded.
Another revision made to the books is the elimination of the extra wide “Scholar’s Margin” on the left side of each page. Trainers using the books must make note of the fact that due to this revision; some of the information may now be on different
page numbers. This could cause a bit of confusion for those of you that index your books with page number references so you will need to re-index your new books.
Ask Bob
Q: We just bought a walkie pallet lift truck (battery operated), do we still need to certify the operators before they can operate it? Raul.
A: Yes you do! Any engine or battery powered piece of equipment that is used to lift, carry, push, pull, and stack or tier materials falls under the operator training standard. That means operators of this type of equipment have to be trained and evaluated by a qualified person, and be able to demonstrate proper operation of the equipment to a qualified person as well. Bob.
Q: If I do the classroom training and another trainer does the practical stuff, should I still put the operator in my Log? James.
A: That is a great question. The answer is yes, absolutely you should enter the trainee into your Log. In fact, I would also recommend that you find out the operator number the other trainer issued and put that in your Log, with a note that you only did the classroom portion, as well. Bob.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 4547 workers died on the job in the US in 2010. The latest numbers from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) report that 939 workers died at work in 2009. Across North America, that is 5486, or about 15 people each and every day that did not come home from work to their families, their friends, their loves, their lives. Add to that the tens of thousands that are injured on the job each year and a very ugly picture begins to take shape. One that is born of the ignorance of employers on what is required to keep workers safe, the fear of workers to ask for training and guidance when they don’t understand and the pressures of financial performance that foster a ‘production-at-any-cost’ attitude across an organization’s workforce and management.
Whatever you attribute these grim statistics to, one thing is clear, they are unacceptable. While it is true that the profile of safety and health as a component of an organization’s business model has improved over the past decade, these numbers show that we still have a long way to go.
On the bright side, the path that leads to success does not take a certain amount of time; it takes a certain number of steps. Start taking your steps right now by speaking up when you or a co-worker need training. Let management know where safety action is needed and offer to help them to get it done. Walk the talk and be the model for success by following safety procedures and showing others that safety and production can coexist. Things are not as bad as they were 10 years ago, but they could be so much better and there are about 5486 more people each year that would have agreed with me on that.
- Falls 635
- Transportation Incidents 1766
- Fires & Explosions 197
- Contact With Objects & Equipment 732
- Assaults & Violent Acts 808
- Exposure to Harmful Substances 409
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Answer to Last Month’s What’s Wrong With This?
Q: In the summer 2011 edition, we asked how many hazards you could see in the photo:
A: We hope you spotted following hazards:
- The operator is using the boomlift as a crane by slinging a load from it and traveling with it.
- Although it is hard to tell, the operator does not appear to be wearing any sort of personal fall protection system.
- The load is not secured by manned tag lines and so it is free to swing.
- The pedestrian passing by is dangerously close to the unsecured load.
- There are at least three other vehicles present and a large garbage bin making the work-site very congested and dangerous for the type of work being done.
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