"Each year, tens of thousands of injuries related to powered industrial trucks (PIT), or forklifts, occur in US workplaces. Many employees are injured when lift trucks are inadvertently driven off loading docks, lifts fall between docks and an unsecured trailer, they are struck by a lift truck, or when they fall while on elevated pallets and tines. Most incidents also involve property damage, including damage to overhead sprinklers, racking, pipes, walls, and machinery. Unfortunately, most employee injuries and property damage can be attributed to lack of safe operating procedures, lack of safety-rule enforcement, and insufficient or inadequate training."

The quote above is taken directly from The U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA website. In 2001 a new standard went into effect: Employers are held responsible and are required by law to provide their forklift operators with proper safety training. OSHA can impose fines of $7,000 to $70,000 per safety violation.