Lift Trucks

Fun Forklift Chores - Entertaining Lift Truck Activities
By Christine OKelly

Recently, a forklift operator performed a variety of stunts with a lift truck and released a video of it on the popular video sharing site YouTube. Authorities quickly charged, convicted, and ordered him to pay $1200 to WorkSafe, to perform 50 hours of community service, and take an OHS course at his expense.

Playing around on the job is definitely not a good idea as this operator proved on many levels. If you want to have fun and test your skills, plenty of opportunities exist to do so safely.

Forklift Driver Competitions

Organizations and companies hold competitions as either a common interest group or an employee event. Lift truck operators demonstrate their skills to find out who is the best. These competitions explore a wide range of skill sets including moving difficult loads, maneuvering through tough obstacles, speed, and efficiency. The operators are also asked to use different types of equipment, accessories, and features.

Some competitions pit different brands or styles of equipment against each other to find out which ones rate higher. Manufacturers and industry organizations will enter these to see how the different forms of technology stack up against each other. The events focus on agility, speed, strength, and accuracy.

Lift Truck Challenges

Although similar to the competitions mentioned previously, this focus more on how well the forklift driver can operate the machine. These are set up as a series of difficult tasks such as moving an object into a difficult location. They can even be a large obstacle course that is filled with a series of different loads and obstacles. The winner is often the individual who can complete all of the tasks successfully.

Training Simulators

While these are not exactly an event, they can be lots of fun all the same. The operator climbs into a booth that replicates driving a real forklift. The program then takes him through a series of different procedures, techniques, and situations. High-quality simulators can adjust the difficulty of the program to meet the ability of the driver.

These programs are specifically for educational purposes, but they can still be a form of friendly competition. One option is to see how difficult the training gets before the operator makes a mistake. You can also challenge the drivers in their own miniature competition. While they are having fun, the individuals are learning new techniques and brushing up on existing skills.

Safety Tests

All operators need to check over their equipment on a regular basis, so running tests and miniature competitions can be an education and fun activity. You can compete with others to see if anyone misses anything. However, you can have a bit more fun by having someone add violations to the machine (nothing permanent) to see if you can find them all.

Whether you run a large outdoor machine in Kentucky or an electric IL forklift in a small warehouse, this equipment is definitely not a toy. This doesn't mean it can't be fun. Challenges, competitions, simulators, and even small company events are a great way to have fun with a lift truck and interact with others. You get to show off your skills and add to them without worrying about harming someone.