Forklift Operator Evaluation Form: What the Employer Completes and Why

Online forklift training covers one part of what the standard asks for. 29 CFR 1910.178(l) requires training that combines formal instruction, practical training, and an evaluation of the operator's performance in the workplace. The last part happens at your site, on your equipment, and it is the employer's responsibility.

That is why every OSHA Operator enrollment includes a practical evaluation form: the form your employer completes to finish the OSHA-required site-specific training.

What the standard asks for

Under 29 CFR 1910.178(l), an employer must make sure each operator is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely, as shown by successful completion of the training and evaluation. In practice that breaks into three pieces:

• Formal instruction — lecture, discussion, video or online learning. This is what our self-paced online training covers.
• Practical training — demonstrations by the trainer and exercises performed by the trainee.
• Evaluation in the workplace — someone with the knowledge, training and experience to train and evaluate operators watches the operator work.

The standard also requires the employer to certify that each operator has been trained and evaluated, and to re-evaluate each operator at least once every three years.

What the evaluation form is for

The form gives the on-site evaluator a structured way to record what they observed: the truck used, the tasks performed, and the evaluator's sign-off. Once it is complete, the operator's file holds both halves of the requirement in one place — the formal instruction record from us, and the workplace evaluation from you.

The employer training record

For teams, the employer dashboard keeps each operator's documents together. For each operator you can produce a single training-record PDF with sections for:

• Operator details
• Certificate
• Formal instruction — 1910.178(l)(2)(ii)
• Written evaluation
• Practical evaluation — 1910.178(l)(3)
• Employer certification — 1910.178(l)(6)

Each section is labelled with the clause it relates to, so anyone reviewing the file can see which requirement each document supports. The roster can also be exported as a CSV file.

Who can do the evaluation

The standard says evaluations must be conducted by persons who have the knowledge, training, and experience to train operators and evaluate their competence. This is often a supervisor, a lead operator or a safety manager. We cover this in more detail in who can evaluate forklift operators.

Where to start

• Enrolling one operator: self-paced online training, $69.
• Enrolling a crew: team seats and the employer dashboard.
• Need blank forms right now: the free OSHA compliance pack includes a printable hands-on evaluation form.

OSHA Operator is a private training provider and is not affiliated with OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor. Employers remain responsible for the practical evaluation and certification of each operator.