It's in the Context, Smarty!
The LIFTOR CONTEXT is derived from a distinct Philosophy, set of Principles, and Beliefs about unified Operator Productivity, Safety and Effective Supervision. [Context is a single word to describe ALL the things in an operator's work environment that can effect their performance. Context includes the training an operator receives, but also the defective forklift he or she might be operating; the policies about getting it repaired; the incentives or encouragement for doing a job safely AND productively; the co-workers and the physical layout of the building, as well as the other equipment and hardware they encounter. All this effects on-job performance.]
Philosophy: The National LIFTOR Process is based upon management's responsibility to provide industrial truck (forklift) operators with a CONTEXT that enables safe AND productive operating. It is not good enough to only provide "training". It never has been! To develop safe AND productive operators, their workplace CONTEXT must include three key dimensions of effective organization:
- CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
- Adequate RESOURCES, and
- 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, when each hazardous workplace condition shows itself, the precise on-truck response needed to avert it. It is NOT (and has never been) sufficient for supervisors and instructors to "show a video" and/or 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, expectations need to be stated in such a way that they describe:
- The hazards or CONDITION that requires a response from the operator, and
- The specific RESPONSE the operator is expected to produce, and
- HOW WELL the response is to be produced in terms of CRITERIA such as speed, precision, distance from a pedestrian or other object, etc.
Through a Team-Based series of meetings, facilitated by an expert/analyst,operators are asked to help decide the very "operating rules" they will expect of themselves and each other. The "rules" are derived from employee meetings, a records of lift truck-related incidents, management, and regulatory policies. The resulting "Learning Objectives", with their detailed criteria for precision on-truck maneuvering, is thus one of the most useful documents for conveying clear expectations.
The clear expectations are introduced to the "operating culture" when front-line supervisors further reinforce the clear expectations by administering a rigorous on-truck skills check (test) to each of their operator subordinates. The expectations are made an integral part of the culture when supervisors, their managers, and operators reinforce them through consistent day-to-day positive reinforcement and effective enforcement practices.
2. Adequate RESOURCES: Operators must have ALL the resources they need to meet required expectations. This includes trucks that match job-requirements and 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. For example,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...or giving operators permission to directly access them.
3. Timely FEEDBACK: Feedback is useful information about how well or poorly the operator has been meeting expectations. Operators need frequent 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 the root 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 effects 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 principles that 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 without directly previewing on-truck hazard recognition and safe responses to them, interferes with opportunities for on-truck practice. So, listening to canned safe operating lectures, watching general forklift videos and taking commercially available 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 adequate speed.
3. Classroom type training and testing is only useful for helping operators and instructors to talk, hear, 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 that is sufficiently timely and precise to avert 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 training, but need to know the precise criteria for responding under common or known hazardous conditions. Rigorous on-truck testing of such experienced operators for their on-truck skill is a useful and effective way to verify and predict safe AND productive performance. 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 and reliable on-truck skills check (a test known as a "work sample") must be administered by a knowledgeable 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 free of defects, clean (no excess grease, grime, or debris) 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. It should be as simple and memorable as possible.
8. A line-operating manager should be accountable for acting on all the above principles. This can NOT be delegated to a staff professional or outside consultant.
If you get the CONTEXT right, and keep it "right", you will probably enjoy a workplace free of operator injury, your's will become an icon of effective organization, and as productive as any place on planet earth.
Gotta Go! Best Wishes.
Joe