The LIFTOR CONTEXT is derived from a distinct Set of Principles, Practices, And Beliefs about Operator Productivity, Safety and Supervision.

Principles:  The National LIFTOR Process is based upon your need to provide industrial truck (forklift) operators with an organizational  CONTEXT (workplace) that enables, rather than hinders, safe and productive operating.  It is not good enough to only provide "training".  It never has been.  To develop safe AND productive operators, their CONTEXT must include at least three key dimensions of effective organization:

1. CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
2. Adequate RESOURCES, and
3. Timely FEEDBACK

1.  CLEAR EXPECTATIONS:  To be productive and free from injury, operators must have clear expectations about how well their trucks are to be operated under all known workplace conditions.  The expectations have to be clear enough so that the operator will be able to quickly recall, for each hazardous workplace condition, the precise on-truck response needed to avert it.  It is NOT (and has never been) sufficient for supervisors and instructors to simply describe expectations in generalities such as  "Be safe", "Use common sense", "Don't go too fast",  or "Be aware of the pedestrians around here".  To be adequately clear,  each expectation needs to be stated in such a way that it describes:

A.  The HAZARD or CONDITION that requires a response   from the operator, and

B. The specific RESPONSE the operator is expected to produce, and

C.  HOW WELL the response is to be produced in terms of CRITERIA such as speed, precision, distance from a pedestrian or object, etc.

Through a Team-Based series of validation meetings, operators are asked to help decide the very "operating rules" they will expect of themselves and each other. The "rules" are derived from prior employee meetings, from a history of lift truck-related incidents, and the regulatory standards, such as OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(l).  The resulting  "Learning Objectives", with their detailed standards for precision on-truck maneuvering, is thus one of the most useful documents for conveying clear expectations.  The clear expectations are thoroughly introduced to  the "operating culture" when front-line supervisors administer a rigorous on-truck skills check (test) to each of their subordinate/operators.  The expectations are made an integral part of the culture when supervisors and their managers reinforce them through consistent day-to-day supervisory reinforcement practices

2.  Adequate RESOURCES:  Operators must have ALL the resources they need to meet required expectations.  This includes trucks that are in good repair, travel surfaces that are free from debris, clutter and congestion, and authority to "sideline" an unsafe truck until it has been repaired.  ( Also, the operating environment needs to be engineered to allow for travel lanes large enough for industrial trucks to drive-through with adequate side clearance and turning radius.  Rack system aisles need to have enough room to accommodate the trucks working within them, so operators have enough room to quickly maneuver without colliding with anything.) Operators also need a periodic forum to recommend changes to management that are in the best interests of productivity and safety. These and others make up the adequate resources operators cannot provide themselves.  Their front-line supervisors are charged with this responsibility for providing adequate resources.

3.  Timely FEEDBACK:  Feedback is useful information about how well or poorly the operator has been meeting expectations.  Operators need access to the information so their good contributions toward safety and productivity can be reinforced, and so that unproductive or unsafe behavior can be modified BEFORE it becomes a cause of an injury, fatality or major collateral damage.  

The most powerful form of feedback is that which is self-generated by the operator. The second most powerful is from one operator to another.  Further, to have front-line supervisors generating the feedback can be a very powerful influence .  However. supervisors need to know how to effectively apply principles of human behavior, or their attempts to do so can have unpredictable and possibly damaging affects on the overall safety and productivity of operators.

Acting on the above three principles will create an effective CONTEXT for continuous learning, improved safety and enduring productivity for your business.

Here are some key practices we support with the National LIFTOR initiative.

1.  When operators get injured or killed, they are usually OPERATING the truck.   Therefore,  operators need to PRACTICE OPERATING the truck, with precision,  under ALL the known hazardous conditions they will face in their workplace.  [Time spent in a classroom interferes with opportunities for on-truck practice.  So, listening to safe operating lectures, watching videos and taking written tests should be kept to a minimum...if done at all.]     

2.  Operators need to be tested ON-THE-TRUCK, so they can prove to themselves and others that they have developed the skill needed to recognize all the known hazardous conditions in their environment...and respond to each with precision and speed.

3.  Classroom type training and testing is only useful for helping operators and instructors to talk and write about forklift operating.  Pencil-and-paper tests can only predict how well operators might score on future  pencil-and-paper tests.  None of this directly solves the problem of getting operators to A) recognize workplace hazardous conditions when they are present, and B) respond with ON-TRUCK behavior (action) that is sufficiently timely and precise to avoid or remove the hazardous condition.

4.  In any given workplace, the vast majority of operators (typically, at least 98% of them) using lift trucks already know HOW to operate the lift truck they've been operating.  Few of these operators, though, are able to explain exactly HOW WELL they should be operating to keep themselves and coworkers free of injury or fatality.  Therefore, EXPERIENCED operators usually need little-to-no formal training, but need to know the precise criteria for responding under common or known hazardous conditions.  Rigorous testing of such operators for their on-truck skill is a useful and effective way to verify and predict safe and productive behavior. New or inexperienced operators need on-truck PRACTICE that includes repetitious drills for recognizing hazards and responding with on-truck precision and speed.

5.  For greatest effectiveness, a valid on-truck skills check (test) must be administered by a front-line supervisory authority and NOT a peer operator, staff person, or consultant. 

6.  Equipment, including lift trucks, storage racks, conveyors, travel surfaces and other industrial site fixtures must be maintained in good repair, free of defects, clean (no excess grease or grime) and orderly.

7.  A feedback system must be put in place to keep operators and managers informed as to how well or poorly they are performing...as they are performing

8.  A front-line operating manager must be accountable for putting the above practices into action at his/her workplace.  This can NOT be delegated to a staff professional, or outside consultant. 

Click to See a Statement of  "Our Beliefs".