OT New Forklift

[wildcard]

I run a 155 CAT forklift for Uncle Sam every day. The certification was a breeze. Mostly common sense. And they're good for 4 years.
I've been warned lots of times for not wearing a seatbelt but never written up. It has the 360 degree rotation and massive forks. You can't see the end of the forks for the rotation mechinism while sitting in the seat. So I have to stand up to look over it once in a while. So the seatbelt becomes a PITA. The forks spread with hydaulics out to about 10 feet. Great for crushing stuff.

[AlleyCat]

I have certification from both of my employers. Most places will accept a current card from another employer but I chose to take the tests at both places. I figure that, in the advent of an accident, too much training is better than not enough.

70_F100, sounds like your full time operater may be a bit dense or just doesn't care. Either way he sounds like an accident waiting to happen. We have a couple of guys at my part time gig that do lousy on the written test then climb up into a highlift and scoop up a car battery with one fork without tipping it over then set it next to other batteries on a pallat. Both guys read at about a 3rd grade level.

[ezernut9mm]

i haven't been certified in over ten years, but i operate a mitsu/cat every day at work. i can pick up a dime with it.

[PhantomoftheBumpside]

Most places will want to see a current certification, but Fed law says that each employer is responsible for certification of it's employees, legally, your employer is only correct if they have certified you, even if you have certification through another employer.

A long time ago when I was working as a sheetmetal worker, we had a really loose old Datsun we used in the shop... I used to be able to pull individual sheets out of the racks on the wall and could also flip coins off the floor onto the forks.

[OldRedFord]

There wasn't a operators test at the feed mill. But then again were pretty small. Only four full time employees so the rules might be different.

[PhantomoftheBumpside]

Blah blah, keep your load low while moving, blah blah, keep your ever changing CG inside the triangle of balance, blah blah, back down grades with load, blah blah, don't run over people, blah, blah, don't allow passengers on sides, blah blah, no one on forks unless you have an approved safety cage secured to the forks, and then don't smash them into overhead obstructions just for fun, blah blah, don't stick your forks in objects that don't have fork pockets... unless you are trying to make fork pockets in that guy (or his truck) that keeps stealing your lunches.... exit the lift rapidly away from the direction of fall when you have a brain fart and place your CG outside the triangle of balance, just don't say you jumped out, blah blah blah...