As the Pegasus Lift Truck Training team grows, so the service grows along with it, in everything from high-quality, on-site training through to excellent levels of customer care.
Once known purely as the forklift trainers, the team now offer a far larger range and can help companies to train on any type of warehouse equipment ranging from hand pallet trucks to learning to abseil down from 15m racking with harnesses and descenders.
Pegasus, in its 27th year, has a five-star reputation for its training and the team all have a genuine passion for what they do. Visiting a wide variety of business from different sectors on a daily basis enables its instructors to see the inside working of a company and the day-to-day culture around training and get a view of the health and safety within the business.
Although a high percentage of companies take their responsibilities seriously, Pegasus still comes across the ‘it’s not going to happen to me’ ethos in workplaces, where just because someone has been doing the job for years, there’s a tendency to think they are highly skilled and haven’t developed any bad habits.
Director Giuseppe Girardi, who heads up the training team, said: “We still see companies who are not putting their drivers at the forefront. They should all be ensuring drivers are taught, assessed and accredited. Recently, we were asked to assess a driver but when we looked into it, found that driver had not had a refresher course since 2005. On our advice the company seized the initiative and brought all their drivers’ knowledge and safety awareness up to date.
“Everyone in a business, from managers to the drivers themselves need to take responsibility and understand the importance of the correct use of warehouse equipment, ensuring everyone can go home safely at the end of their shift.”
The emphasis is on ‘prepare and prevent, not repair and repent’ – in other words, instilling an understanding that skilled operators who have completed thorough training are safer and less likely to cause damage to themselves, equipment or the goods, leaving their employers confident that their workplace is operating safely and efficiently.
Operations Director Dawn Girardi said: “These days, we find a lot of directors have come up the ‘hard work’ route and have focused on building their businesses to a place where they are able to employ others to manage the business for them. Even in those circumstances, the health and safety buck ultimately stops with them and the directors in charge should be aware of their liabilities.
“To assume that it is the responsibility of managers can cost them thousands if they are not proactive in leading from the top, and our awareness courses are structured to assist in protecting companies from the devastating effects of avoidable accidents and non-compliance
“At Pegasus we want to reassure our clients and work alongside them, health and safety advice can sometimes be frowned upon but any knowledge is offered not from being judgemental, but to help with any areas of complacency. During the training on the lift trucks, candidates get to know a basic understanding of the HSAWA along with both Puwer and
Loler Regulations.”
All Pegasus trainers have the knowledge of the industry, and each have their own forte. Karl has learnt his skills from a past first-hand employment working within logistics and warehousing and has a friendly but thorough and fair approach, while Richard is driven by his health and safety passion and many companies benefit from his knowledge within the industry, frequently passing on friendly advice gained from project managing large teams within construction.
A recent addition to the firm is Iain Thomson, who has recently qualified as an instructor. Iain is well known in the Wellingborough area, having 31 years’ experience in the local transport planning and warehousing sector.
Dawn added: “We are delighted to have Iain on board. He has a wealth of experience in the transport sector and the important thing is that he has a knowledge of how the industry works, what companies need and the issues they face, combined with an understanding of areas such as health and safety and first aid in the workplace, which is invaluable.”
Iain adds to the combined knowledge of the other trainers partnered with Pegasus and its instructors, led by Giuseppe, have mainly trained across Northamptonshire and the adjoining counties, but Pegasus’s reputation is growing and already this year, Giuseppe has completed six weeks of training for a client in Liverpool and a new contract is about to be rolled out in the Newcastle area.
“It’s fantastic to see Pegasus growing like this after weathering the storm of the pandemic,” said Giuseppe. “We kept going all the way through, finding ways to make it work whatever the restrictions, so that our clients in vital areas like online retail and logistics could continue to operate.
“Now that we’re through all that, it’s onward and upwards and building the team the way we are shows how far we have come and how we’ve taken the opportunities that have presented themselves.”
Find out more about Pegasus Lift Truck Training, call 07736 248071 or 07801 631699
