by Rachel Gearon | Jul 28, 2022 | Employment & skills, Our News, Training courses
Don’t miss your chance to book on our August First Aid At Work course.
This 3-day course is running from 15th August – 17th August 2022 at our training centre in Swindon. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
Designed for workplaces that fall into a higher risk category e.g. engineering, manufacturing, warehousing, construction or that involves the use of chemicals, the course provides comprehensive training for those who are required to be the designated First Aider within their workplace.
Our Ofqual accredited course has limited spaces, so please contact us as soon as possible to secure your place – david.gearon@keyperformancetraining.co.uk or 01793 975353.
by Rachel Gearon | Jul 21, 2022 | Industry news, Training courses
1,500 injuries are caused by forklifts and other industrial vehicles every year. Whilst unavoidable accidents can happen, many accidents occur because of poor operation or negligence – things that can be easily avoided.
Overloading a forklift truck is a key example of negligence which can cause unnecessary danger and accidents. Overloading a forklift truck results in the forklift tipping and falling, which causes damage to both the vehicle and stock but most importantly, the individual operating it.
Nearly one in every four fatalities occur when forklifts tip over. Forklifts can easily tip if they are overloaded, if the load is not well balanced, or if they travel with the forks too high.
Don’t push the limits
Most forklift operators understand the capacity of the machines they use and the importance of sticking to them. However, it is not uncommon for those who operate forklifts on a regular basis to become less strict with their weight load over time, attempting to put a little extra weight on to pallets or try to estimate the load sizes rather than weighing them.
Counterbalancing loads
Counterbalance forklifts are designed to balance the weight of the forks plus the load with the weight of the truck itself held by the back axle. With the weight of the truck offsetting the load, specific limits are required to keep the back of the forklift heavier, and the back wheels firmly on the ground.
When a forklift is static it may look balanced with its rear wheels on the ground, but add speed, turning, lifting and moving into the mix and this is when your counterbalanced weight will feel the effects. This is then worsened by things like terrain and incline.
Establish weight loads
Once you establish the load capacity, you should always strive to ensure you only load the forklift with loads within this. The weight of the load can be found by its labelling, or by manually using a weight scale.
If you’d like to ask us any questions about this, or need help training your staff to operate safely, please call us on 01793 975353 or email @ david.gearon@keyperformancetraining.co.uk.
by Rachel Gearon | Jul 14, 2022 | Employment & skills, Training courses
The Health and Safety Executive have recently handed out several large fines to companies who failed to implement health and safety measures concerning pedestrians and truck operators.
Sadly, two cases involved fatalities where pedestrians were struck by a forklift truck and a telehandler and later died from their injuries.
In both cases, the employees were simply walking around their business premises – the companies did not provide suitable and sufficient control measures to ensure that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate in a safe manner. This led to them being fined a total of £260,000.
Speaking after one case HSE Inspector Connor Gibson said “The tragic outcome of this incident clearly highlights why duty holders must ensure that vehicle and pedestrian movements at their work site are properly assessed and adequately controlled. This fatal incident could and should have been prevented via suitable and sufficient control measures segregating pedestrians from vehicle movements.”
Speaking after the hearing of another, HSE Inspector Sarah Taylor said: “Pedestrians and vehicles need to be kept apart at all work sites. This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply segregating vehicles and pedestrians.”
Are you aware of your Health and Safety obligations? Are your employees trained to operate forklift trucks to the necessary standard? Have you had near misses that could have led to a serious accident?
Speak to us to get your business training obligations back on track.
Contact David.gearon@keyperformancetraining.co.uk or call us for more information on 01793 975353
by Rachel Gearon | Jul 7, 2022 | Employment & skills, Our News, Training courses
Key Performance Training is pleased to announce our next First Aid 3-day course is now available for bookings.
The course is running from 15th August – 17th August 2022 at our training centre in Swindon. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
Our Ofqual accredited course has limited spaces, so please contact us as soon as possible to secure your place – david.gearon@keyperformancetraining.co.uk or 01793 975353.
by Rachel Gearon | May 19, 2022 | Employment & skills, Industry news, Training courses
Recent events have had a big impact on the culture of businesses, and our industry is facing skills shortages. It’s never been more important for businesses to embrace Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
As employees return to work, training schedules kick in, and recruitment continues, it’s a great chance for logistics and supply chain employers to embrace EDI. EDI brings benefits to development, retention, and employee engagement.
Here are 4 ways that implementing EDI strategies could benefit your business and your employees.
- Address staff shortages
The demand for talent is high, opening up your workforce to under-represented groups can help fill skills gaps. For instance, women may avoid entering the logistics industry because of the attitude they fear they may encounter in a sector where male workers still make up 83.4% of the workforce.
When companies show inclusivity to all genders through language, behaviour, and policy (such as maternity leave, childcare support and extra support to those going through menopause), it can encourage more women into roles.
Similarly, today’s younger professionals may feel that logistics isn’t an attractive career option. Newer generations are more attracted to working for a business that has a culture that reflects their own. This includes a positive attitude to EDI – pay and career development alone, aren’t enough.
- Harness new skills and perspectives
Neurodiversity refers to a range of commonly co-occurring ‘conditions’ related to cognitive differences, and behavioural traits. It includes Dyslexia, Autism, ADHD, and more. Embracing neurodiverse people in the workforce creates an opportunity to incorporate a mix of talents, perspectives, and skills.
Employers should put their EDI initiatives into practice when considering how to support neurodiverse employees so that they feel able to thrive. This might mean taking a different approach to training. By asking trainees about their preferred methods of learning it can show that you understand that people think and learn differently.
More and more people are realising that they don’t have to stay in a job where they don’t feel respected and safe, nor should they have to. The good news is that EDI can lead to higher levels of staff retention.
Employers could consider, for example, if there is a need to address unconscious bias. Unconscious bias is when we make snap judgments about people based on our background, experiences, stereotypes and cultural context. Bias can be triggered by gender, ethnicity, disability, body weight, names, and many other things.
To create a more inclusive and tolerant work culture, employers should take steps to eliminate unconscious bias. This can be a topic included in training. Leaving areas like this unaddressed can make your staff leave. Importantly, employees who are treated fairly will tell prospective employees, supporting recruitment.
Good communication is key and taking a different approach to EDI can put this into focus. Training Managers, Instructors, and Warehouse Managers must be trained to communicate respectfully with trainees. This enables successful training. In a diverse workplace, trainers can improve communication by choosing different words. Talking in a way that makes different training candidates feel comfortable is important.
Remember, communication doesn’t just mean conversations. Communication also covers written materials used around the workplace. Keeping EDI in mind when developing written documents will help create better conversations throughout the company. This can help improve employee engagement.
It’s time to create a respectful and tolerant culture in your business. Now is the time to embrace EDI and create a culture that breeds respect. Make it clear to everybody that the business will not tolerate certain language and behaviours. Remember a work culture starts from the top, so practice what you preach.
Coming soon….Join us for our Launch Event at our new premises on 17th June 2022
by Rachel Gearon | May 12, 2022 | Employment & skills, Our News, Training courses
Swindon-based Key Performance Training’s recent re-location to bigger premises in Kembrey Park will provide a welcome boost to the local workforce.
Our family business is the only lift truck training centre in Swindon, providing forklift training to men and women looking for work or who want to expand their skill set. In addition, we offer training in first aid, health and safety, and courses for fire marshals and wardens.
David Gearon, who runs the training centre, said: “We were outgrowing our previous training centre, so we decided to look for new premises at the end of 2021. We looked at a couple of properties, but our favourite was a unit in Kembrey Park. It’s a great location, with a larger office and more warehouse space.”
As a RTITB (Road Transport Industry Training Board) Approved Training Centre, we help businesses in the area maintain licenses, knowledge and skills that are needed for their continued development and success. We pride ourselves on providing a helpful and approachable pathway to employment, talent and growth through regulated industrial sector training and certification.
We also maintain links to all local recruitment agencies and help connect them to trainees in completion of each course.
“With a larger warehouse space, we’re now able to run more courses, which means we can increase the number of people we can train. We hope to help more and more people develop their skills and unlock their careers. We are already working with some of our new neighbours as well, so we hope to become a friendly addition to the Kembrey Park family,” said David.
With Swindon still showing high demand for skilled employees, there is a huge opportunity for people to either improve their existing skills or learn something new. With the investment by companies such as Amazon and B&Q, as well as the future businesses to come following Panattoni’s purchase of the Honda site, there has never been a better time to invest in yourself or your business.
For more information, please speak to us on 01793 975353.
Coming soon….3 Time Saving Tips for Reach Truck Operator Training
