E-learning course helps thousands manage forklift operations safely

With exceptionally high conviction rates and record fines resulting from HSE prosecutions, the pressure on managers to prioritise site safety has never been greater.

Now more than ever, the need for managers to understand and fulfil their requirements is evident, which explains why the Managing Forklift Operations e-learning course delivered by Mentor FLT Training is proving so successful.

“It has exceeded our expectations, with literally thousands of managers signing up,” explains Stuart Taylor, managing director of Mentor. “The course has been developed specifically to help managers overseeing forklift operations understand and meet their responsibilities for day-to-day safety. And, because it is an e-learning solution, it has made this vital training more accessible, with busy managers able to train when and where they choose, fitting training around their daily demands.”

As a result, the AITT-approved course has been adopted by businesses of all types and sizes across a wide range of industries, with some making it a mandatory requirement for all managers, and others even rolling out the course as part of a worldwide forklift safety programme.

Larger organisations have opted for Mentor’s licensed version of the course, which allows for integration with a company’s own learner management systems. This has granted them easy access to their own reporting data and helped them to keep all training records in one place for convenience and consistency.

“Managers and supervisors drive a site’s culture and determine its norms, but the skills required to do so successfully cannot simply be ‘picked up on the job’,” adds Stuart Taylor. “From our own research, more than half the managers we met had never driven a forklift or received any formal training and a staggering 90% were unclear of their legal responsibilities.

“Those responsible for upholding forklift safety need the knowledge and confidence to rectify any bad practice that they encounter day to day, and this was the driver for creating the Managing Forklift Operations course. What’s more, we found they needed a flexible way to access this training, as face-to-face learning was not feasible for every business. The e-learning option provides a simple, cost-effective way to help managers obtain the training they need to keep their forklift operations safe, compliant and profitable.”