WTTAP Heavy Equipment Operations and Safety Training

Please note: you must attend the entire training to receive a certificate of completion.

Course Summary:

This comprehensive, hands-on training course provides participants with essential knowledge and practical skills for safely operating and working around dump trucks, forklifts, motor graders, and skid steers. The course covers equipment orientation, work zone setup (both internal and external), and critical safety practices for operators and pedestrian workers. Participants will also learn key principles of vehicle operation, load securement, inspection procedures, and the use of pre-trip and pre-job checklists to ensure safe and efficient operations.

Through a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on activities, attendees will gain experience in safe equipment operation, including traveling with loads, working on inclines, managing high-level stowage, and navigating various job site conditions such as loading docks and temporary traffic control zones. Emphasis is placed on hazard awareness, proper equipment use, and best practices for maintaining safe, productive work environments across a variety of construction and transportation settings.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• List the 12 absolute rules operators must obey.
• Use checklists to ensure equipment is operating safely.
• Use site safety practices and recognize warning signs.
• Identify various pieces of heavy equipment by the features of each piece of equipment.
• Eliminate bad driving habits while operating heavy equipment.
• Understand the placement and use of cones, barricades, caution tape and other barriers.
• Assess proper direction of travel based on the load, acceptable approach angles, travel within delineated lines, and the correct use of spotters.

Prerequisites:

None.

Target Audience:

This course is designed for tribal DOT, municipal public works, parks, streets/roads, water, wastewater, distribution/collection and/or storm water utility workers or any other tribal entity employees who may be called on to operate the equipment featured in this course.

This training is also recommended for emergency alternate personnel who may be called on to use the equipment in special circumstances, such as after a natural disaster or any other reason where no other operators are available. Other recommended participants are crew leaders, division supervisors, agency safety officers, department safety coordinators, general safety trainers and/or fleet team members.

Agenda/Topics:

Backhoes

• Accident Case Studies
• Equipment Orientation
• External Work Zone Set-up (Temporary Traffic Control)
• Internal Work Zone Set-up (Perimeters and Barriers)
• Excavating Issues
• Safe Mounting, Seatbelts, No-Rider Rules and Prohibited Uses
• Imperative Operator Safety Rules
• Imperative Essential Pedestrian Worker Rules
• Imperative Non-Essential Pedestrian Worker Rules
• Special Operation Tasks
• Preparing for an Unattended Work Zone
• Equipment Inspection and Use of Pre-Job Briefing Checklists

Forklifts:

• Forklift Safety and Your Facilities
• Preferred Forklift Designs and Important Features & Accessories
• Safe Forklift Operations
• Traveling with Loads
• High Level Stowage
• Inclines and Ramps
• Loading Docks/Truck/Trailers/Railcars
• Special Hazard Areas/Unusual Circumstances
• Fueling & Charging
• Multiple Hands-On Operations Activities

Tractor Loaders:

• Trailering and Load Securement Hazards (Accidents Scenarios)
• Matching Vehicle Size with Trailer Size
• Hitch Types, Proper Operation and Locking Mechanisms
• Safety Chains, Lights and Trailer Brakes (Air Lines and Wires)
• Choosing Loading Locations and Vehicle Prep
• Drive-on Loading/Unloading Mobile Equipment on Trailers
• General Load Securement Principles
• Securing Mobile Equipment on Trailers
• Securing Other Loads on Trucks or Trailers (Binders/Protectors)
• Use of Fork Lifts, Cranes or Other Machines to Load Vehicles
• Securing Tarps, Tools and Miscellaneous Cargo
• Safely Driving Vehicles with Trailers

Skid Steers:

• Equipment Orientation
• External & Internal Work Zone Set-Up
• Excavating Issues
• Safe Mounting, Seatbelts, No-Rider Rules and Prohibited Uses
• Imperative Operator Safety Rules
• Imperative Essential Pedestrian Worker Rules
• Imperative Non-Essential Pedestrian Worker Rules
• Special Skid Steer Operation Tasks
• Preparing for an Unattended Work Zone
• Equipment Inspection and Use of Pre-Job Briefing Checklists
• Multiple Hands-On Operations Activities