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We appreciate you stopping in this week, I’m Marty with the Warehouse and Operations as a Career Podcast! We’ve been working on a few shows coming up next month, breaking into the transportation fields, 3pl’s and a little on freight brokerage! Until then though, lets talk a little about being an equipment operator. We’ve been discussing several of the different positions in the warehouse and how to build our plans and set our goals to get where we’re wanting to go. I’ve heard from several listeners that’s taken those general labor positions, just using them to get on the payroll and have already started taking advantage of their new experiences. Many of those goals of course lead to be an equipment operator. Maybe a pallet runner or order selector using the electric rider pallet jacks, maybe the doubles or triples even. I’m working with several young men and women with their eyes set on the forklift positions, both the sit down or counterbalance units or the stand-ups and reach lifts. You know, and you’ve heard me say many times, experience is the only way to become a proficient or professional operator. We’ll probably be exposed to the electric pallet jacks first, and it’s a pretty easy unit to operate. I enjoyed my years running pallets, learned a lot about the front docks and especially the receiving process. We just recently talked about running pallets, Check out episode number 129. There I am straying again. Anyway, so I wanted to share a story I heard a couple of weeks ago. A young man had been unloading trailers for about 3 months. He’d of course been through his PIT or 29CFR1910.178 course as he’d been using the elect pallet jack just to run stacked pallets off his trailers and onto the first 35 ft of the dock, staging them for his receiver. He had let his supervisor know that his eventual goal was to become an order selector for him so his departments leadman had worked with him, making sure he was getting to practice on the jacks and letting him run a few pallets every once and a while. Well, he’d done a great job and was promoted to that runner position, he was pretty excited, a position opened up and both his lead and supervisor was excited for him. We’ve talked a couple of times about how human nature is our own worst enemy. Really, it’s so easy to get over confident, or in a routine, maybe comfortable is the word I’m looking for. As equipment operators we always will have to be familiar with our surroundings and be cautious. That means being focused on the job at hand at all times and following all the safety rules we’ve been taught! He had been running pallets for about 6 weeks and doing a great job. The Safety manager had cautioned him once about using his horn when going down the cross aisles and once on another occasion for not honking when coming out of the aisles onto the front dock after dropping off his staged pallets. Nothing serious, he’d been given a verbal caution the first time and he had received a written warning the second time. On this particular day he was running pallets straight down the aisle all the way to the back of the warehouse. It was a big open area used for some bulk overflow storage. He had 24 pallets, they were double stacked, he was using a double pallet jack, so he was carrying 4 at a time. The safety Manager had seen him up front on the docks and cautioned him to slow down a little as he was carrying quite a bit of weight on each haul. Actually, the safety manager liked the young man, he liked his enthusiasm and I’m hearing he would stop him occasionally to give him some pointers, really working with him. About half way through his hauling this particular load the safety manager was in the back area and our young operator sure enough came out of the aisle into the bulk storage area, never honked his horn and traveling much to fast, hung a right after clearing the last bay and saw, you guessed it, the safety manager. He didn’t lose the load, thank goodness but he had just made a huge mistake and he knew it. The safety manager had no recourse but to remove him from the pallet jack. Of course, our young operator didn’t totally understand. He admitted to not honking his horn but stated he knew no one was working back there except him so it should be overlooked and a warning or write up should have been given to him. The Safety Manager had no problem pointing out that he was back there and really anyone could have been assigned to haul to that area by any supervisor at any time. Know, I want to point out that he was removed from the equipment not for driving a little too fast after being cautioned but for not using his horn when coming from the aisle and into an open area. He’d been corrected twice before, at least twice before, and failed to follow the rule again. In our new world of Equipment Operator, we have to follow the rules. We’re being paid to follow the rules. We’ve learned the rules are in place to protect ourselves and our peers or teammates. The young man was put back on the docks unloading. Unfortunately, he ended up resigning about two weeks later. I understand, I really do, but ladies and gentlemen we need to only get upset with ourselves in these situations. We’re taught, or I hope we’re all taught how to be safe and to use our equipment properly. I guess we can argue to any point but in the end, the rules were not followed, and we know what the consequences are right? I’m happy to report that the young man found another job, he’s running pallets for another company and I’ve heard he is a rule following by the book kind of guy now. With his experience he was able to land another job and stay on his plan towards order selecting. I understand he really misses his old company, supervisor and especially his previous leadman. I think he realizes he’s starting over now with a new supervisor; he’ll need to show him that he cares and can do a great job, get him to notice him like his old management did.
Over the last 2 weeks I’ve heard about two different forklift operators, reach lift drivers actually, in two different states, both having the same type of incident. I intentionally didn’t use the word accidents because both knew to avoid the situation. No one was injured but there was damage and their positions were put at risk over something that never should have happened. The first operator was driving through a fire doorway with his forks raised just above mask height, so his second tier was too high. He’d came out of the aisle and was going to drive through the doorway. The mask hit to top of the doorway. The second operator had just placed a pallet into the reserves and started lowering his forks or carriage. He pulled out into the cross aisle, started to proceed down the aisle and his mask hit the cross beam. Both of these men we’re good operators. One was very tenured, been driving several years and the other one had been driving almost a year. Both knew the rules, lower your forks before moving from your lift position yet neither adhered to those teachings. Both were given serious warnings and had to go through retraining before they could return to work. There suspensions cost them money and their actions almost cost them their jobs. Human nature again, our own worst enemy. They knew it was dangerous, they knew it was not the proper thing to do. They got conformable, both in their surroundings and their abilities. It’s preventable ladies and gentlemen. I know operators that’s been driving forklifts for over 25 years and they’ve never had an incident. They are professionals and have had some outstanding careers as a fork driver. Look around your facility, you’ll see that’s the norm because operators that are not safe, not following the rules, are no longer forklift drivers.
Its tough, in many instances it’s one and done. It’s just that serious, we’re dealing with expensive product, expensive equipment and our lives and the lives of others. There cannot be any wiggle room. We’re paid for doing the job safely. Every facility I’ve ever been in has had a Safety First attitude. That’s our responsibility!
The morale to the story is stay focused, don’t skirt the rules ever. It’s not worth it. There are not going to be any excuse that’s going to get you out of it. Productivity, being behind, getting out of everyone’s way etc. Don’t move that first inch until the lift is complete, meaning your forks are back on the ground.
Equipment operation is fun, its safe and can be our career or a stepping stone in our plan but we have to accept that responsibility, follow our training, stay focused and be that professional operator. Never give into Human Nature, and never get comfortable in your abilities. Always know our surrounding and be Safe in all we do.
Well, that’s a few of our thoughts, I hope you agreed with our conclusions, and that Safety is your work culture period. It’ll pay off I promise you. Please send us an email with any comments or topic suggestions too, we love getting mail! Until next week, be Safe we’ve all got loved ones waiting for us at home!