Does a front-end-loader with interchangeable tools qualify as a forklift for training purposes?
If you remove the bucket from a front-end-loader and add forks, is the equipment then designated a forklift requiring the driver to be trained according to OSHA’s new forklift training requirements-or is the front-end-loader, wheel-loader, etc., still considered an earth mover? After a call to OSHA’s Construction Division in Washington, D. C., the surprising answer is that OSHA still considers the equipment an earth mover. Why? Because, in their way of thinking it is primarily a front-end-loader but is being used, probably on an infrequent basis, for forklift duties. Skid-steers with removable equipment and tool carriers also fit into this interpretation. However, if you used the same piece of equipment in an industrial setting the opposite thinking is applied. In other words, you don’t have much dirt to move around so you are probably be using it as a forklift most of the time. Therefore, in a general industry setting, you would need forklift training. In an OSHA Letter of Interpretat
