


If the employer can show that a physically impaired employee would be a danger to himself and other employees when operating equipment such as a forklift, the employer has the right to not allow that employee to become a forklift operator. In general, OSHA states that it considers physical impairments on a case-by-case basis. (Reference: OctoOSHA Letter of Interpretation, which was edited in 2000.)Īnd, OSHA has issued other interpretations addressing both visually and hearing impaired potential forklift operators.
#DO YOU NEED A FORKLIFT LICENSE FULL#
In fact, OSHA has issued a letter of interpretation stating that an employer must determine if full vision is mandatory for the operations and advises that appropriate medical personnel be consulted. However, even though Federal OSHA doesn't specifically address it in the regulation, there are obviously some potential concerns and safety issues and these need to be evaluated in light of the specific operations. Our deep knowledge of federal and state agencies is built on a strong foundation of 70+ years of regulatory compliance experience.įederal OSHA's powered industrial truck standard does not specifically address vision/hearing requirements for operators. You can trust our expertise across subjects relating to labor, transportation, environmental, and worker safety.
