Customer+Forklift=Stupidity

[Rapscallion]

Smeg is short for Smegma, which are various bits of detritus, usually associated with vomit.

Um, not quite. Smegma is a form of mucus. I'm not telling you where it's found, specifically.

Google for it if you dare.

Rapscallion

[XCashier]

...SC is served papers by the DA. Why? Why, simple. Endangerment. The Police had seized the tapes and saw the lurch and the near miss of the associate. SC ended up having to pay a HUGE fine and was banned from that store.

Frankly, he should have gone to jail for endangerment, but I'm glad he got some punishment. You NEVER, EVER mess around with forklifts! They are extremely dangerous! That is why forklift drivers have to be fully trained before they are allowed to use the machines in the store.

[karma_gypsy]

Frankly, he should have gone to jail for endangerment, but I'm glad he got some punishment. You NEVER, EVER mess around with forklifts! They are extremely dangerous! That is why forklift drivers have to be fully trained before they are allowed to use the machines in the store.

Yes, true, especially the larger, heavy duty forklifts. It doesn't matter how easy a forklift is to learn, a customer shouldn't be handling one themselves, especially a stupid one at that. . .

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I once heard that you're not even supposed to drive a forklift until you get certified under OSHA.

I do believe that's correct. I do know that one has to be certified to operate an electric pallet jack (I had certification while at WD, as part of my job was to inspect it weekly to make certain it was in good working order.)

I'd say that SC got what he had coming to him. I also don't agree that the employee was suspended or reprimanded, as if he had not tried to stop the SC he'd found himself in trouble.

Sounds like a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't."

[Greenday]

Um, not quite. Smegma is a form of mucus. I'm not telling you where it's found, specifically.

Google for it if you dare.

Rapscallion

Just cause you wouldn't even say what it was, I had to google it. Wikipedia had an interesting article lol.

As for the topic at hand, it's nice to hear that his suspension was paid. I wish mine was paid. Basically it's a gift from upper management but it's supposed to be a punishment. Sucks his future employers if he switches companies will only see it as a bad thing.

[powerboy]

As for the ease of forklifts? Yes they are damn easy to learn and the controls are dirt simple but I'd recommend at least a half hour practice time to learn the quirks of a new forklift and if you've never used one at all in your life, make it 2 hours.

Forklifts are the easist thing to learn, and might also be the fastest. I first time I got behind the wheel of a forklift, it was fun.

[Kiwi]

um whats a haymaker? A fist Im assuming? but I pictured some kind of wrench? maybe a sickle?

[Gurndigarn]

um whats a haymaker? A fist Im assuming? but I pictured some kind of wrench? maybe a sickle?

A roundhouse punch that knocks them backwards.

[Seanette]

I once heard that you're not even supposed to drive a forklift until you get certified under OSHA.

My husband (himself a certified forklift operator) confirms this.

[Bob Blaylock]

I once heard that you're not even supposed to drive a forklift until you get certified under OSHA.

My husband (himself a certified forklift operator) confirms this.

I'm Seanette's husband. As she mentioned, I'm also an OSHA-certified forklift operator.

OSHA requires that all forklift operators be trained and certified. It is illegal to operate a forklift without this training and certification.

The training includes several hours of classroom-type instruction regarding various OSHA regulations and general safety rules concerning forklift operation, as well as some hands-on training and testing. Not all of the important safety principles are things that would be obvious to someone without this training — at least not until he ran afoul of one of them and caused a potentially fatal accident.

Furthermore, it is required of any company that has forklifts to ensure that anyone who is going to operate one is certified, and has been trained and established to be competent to use it. If a company has different kinds of forklifts, being authorized to operate one type does not automaticially mean you're allowed to operate a different type.

A customer definitely cannot just walk into a place like Lowe's, and get on a forklift and operate it. I can see a possibility that a shop might allow a particularly trusted customer to operate one of it's forklifts; but that would require that the shop first verify that the customer has a valid certification, and make some effort to establish that the customer is competent to operate the particular lift he is going to operate. Basically, the shop would have to do with that customer everything that the shop has to do with its own employees before they are allowed to operate the lifts. I think it would be very rare for any shop to do so, due to liability issues.

BTW, assuming the story as told at the start of this thread is true, someone at this Lowe's committed a big no-no by leaving the key in the forklift while it was unattended in an area where customers could gain access to it. Stupid customers happen, after all; and the forklift shouldn't have been left in a manner that allowed a customer such easy access thereto.

[Confuzed-Monkey]

I work for Lowe's, and this kind of thing actually happens more often than you would know.

I have heard stories about children running equipment as well.

I actually overheard a kid tell an associate this one day "I know how to turn it on, and you can't watch it all day." Because the associate caught the kid trying to turn on the lift. We did drive that unit back to the recieving area.


We are so understaffed, that having 2 or 3 customers waiting on you at once is not uncommon. And with probability what it is, they usually need something that is empty and that needs power equipment to bring down.
(We require a spotter for power equipment use)

(In reply to above) We don't technically leave the keys IN the machines, but we have them tethered to the chassis somewhere. That way they aren't lost and you don't have to hunt down who has the key when you need the lift quickly. Not really a great idea, but it's all we can do.

As for the punishment that said SC recieved, unless proven my documented sources, I do not believe.
It would really go as follows.

As it is with Lowe's, ask any associate, They would have apologized for not being able to help him quickly, being out of what he need, payed for his doctor bills from the "assault" from the associate, then give him several gift cards and a future discount on purchase. THEN fired the associate for not being able to fulfill job duties.
(Think I'm joking about this last statement, ask anyone from Lowe's)

Oh well, I still believe the basis of the story is correct.
Con-Mon

[Bob Blaylock]

We don't technically leave the keys IN the machines, but we have them tethered to the chassis somewhere. That way they aren't lost and you don't have to hunt down who has the key when you need the lift quickly. Not really a great idea, but it's all we can do.

It's a very bad idea, on a lift that is ever going to be left unattended in a customer-accessible area. Perhaps Lowe's will change its policies regarding this — or start enforcing existing neglected policies — after it loses a nasty lawsuit in the wake of a disaster of the sort that almost happened in the story at the start of this thread. It will be tragic if someone has to die or be seriously injured in order to bring this about. A forklift is not a toy; and I doubt if most people have any idea the damage it can do in incompetent hands.

[Confuzed-Monkey]

well, when you actually think about it, consider

1. The hundreds of lowes store operating daily,

2. 5 - 10 Pieces of power equipment in each one or more

3. The hundreds of thousands, if not millions of shoppers that come in

And this happens maybe a couple of times a year, I would say we have a decent track record, don't you think. Hell, we have more parking lot accidents in one store alone than power equipment accidents.

I mean, seriously, I a person can hit a light pole thats two feet wide and claim not to have seen it(yes my store), we're doing ok inside.

My store had almost made 500 days, major accident free.

[scruff]

BTW, assuming the story as told at the start of this thread is true, someone at this Lowe's committed a big no-no by leaving the key in the forklift while it was unattended in an area where customers could gain access to it.

Well, people take shortcuts with keys and other items., thinking "I'll be back in a moment.."
I'm not saying its a good idea, but people can be careless.
It does depend on the equipment though, the little diggers British Telecom used to be stupid enough to leave in my Venture Scouts carpark didn't have key ignition, they had _pushbuttons_.
The number of times we had to drag scouts out of the cabs by their collars just as they were about the start the engines..

Mind you, if someone is determined to screw up, it is hard to stop them.
The scout hut was literally across the road from the local police station, and we had regular discos. (Usually no bar, although over here, its legal to give alcohol to kids over the age of 5, in their own home, and the "official" legal purchasing age is 18, although I've never seen anyone get carded.

Our local coppers used to pop over at least once an evening to check everything was ok at our disco.
One time, the cop on duty was so lazy he _drove_ over the road to check the disco out.
Bad move.
One of the lads charged over and headbutted the car. Partly due to being an underaged drunk, and mainly cos the paperwork involved in covering a damaged cop car is nasty, he got dragged off to the cells. And his Dad called to pick him up.
His Dad turned up drunk, and drove at the cop shop, failed to stop in the carpark and crashed into thier garden wall.
The evening ended up with kid in one cell, and Dad in the next door cell.

[Spiffy McMoron]

His Dad turned up drunk, and drove at the cop shop, failed to stop in the carpark and crashed into thier garden wall.
The evening ended up with kid in one cell, and Dad in the next door cell.

It's so heartwarming to hear of stories where the family ends up spending quality time together. Wouldn't you agree?