Ken Van Hook does something many managers hate to do. He talks to OSHA compliance officers. His goal is to better educate them about when lift trucks in the field aren’t safe or aren’t being used safely.

Van Hook is president of After-Sales and a member of the Industrial Truck Association. At the ITA’s recent fall meeting, Van Hook spoke with the ITA membership about ways the organization can partner with OSHA to improve compliance and safety. The greatest need, he says, is to help compliance officers understand how lift trucks are used in the real world.

To that end, ITA members are hammering out a new training program for compliance officers that—unlike previous programs—makes use of actual lift trucks. With this program, students break up into groups around lift trucks.

“We can say 'This is a backrest extension, this is where the nameplate is, this shows whether the truck has an attachment or not,’” Van Hook explains. “Having the product there is really great. Having it at a dealership helps the OSHA compliance officer understand the role of the dealer before the product gets to the customer.”

ITA is also drafting a checklist of things operators should do to ensure safe operation and is helping OSHA update the training on its Web site.

“We’re giving them the expertise they need to move a lot faster,” Van Hook says. “That’s the key.”

Van Hook also believes the United States may soon get a lift truck certification program like the one in Canada. In Canada, lift trucks are safety certified once a year by licensed lift truck technicians.