FAQs

We have compiled a list of the more commonly asked questions regarding our business, forklift truck training, and associated health and safety protocols. For any specific queries you have regarding First Choice Fork Truck Training or our courses, please contact us — we are more than happy to advise.

What accreditation does First Choice Fork Truck Training hold?

We are fully accredited with The British Register of Industrial Truck Trainers and Operators (BRITTOp).

What forklift truck training courses do you provide?

We provide on-site Novice, Refresher and Conversion courses on a range of truck types. More information on our courses is available here.

Where in the UK do you provide training?

We are a Lancashire-based training provider and predominantly cover Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cumbria and the wider North West. However, we are able to provide training across the UK — please contact us if you wish to enquire about training outside of the North West.

What certification will I receive upon completing a course?

Upon completion, all trainees receive BRITTOp-accredited certification for operating a forklift truck that is recognised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

What is the minimum age at which a person can operate a forklift truck?

Forklift truck operators should be over the minimum school leaving age (17 years or over), except on docks or in ports where they must be at least 18 years old.

What Health and Safety protocols does First Choice Fork Truck Training conform to?

All of our forklift training courses conform to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), Approved Code of Practice for Rider-operated Lift Trucks (ACOP L117), and the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 (HASWA rules and regulations).

More information on the HSE can be found at www.hse.gov.uk, with specific information on Workplace Transport Safety available here.

What are the legal requirements regarding employee training?

Under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers have a general duty to provide information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure the health and safety of their employees.

Under Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, employers are required to “ensure that all persons who use work equipment have receive adequate training for purposes of health and safety, including training in the methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be taken”.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 also place duties on employers to provide training. By not providing adequate training, you could be breaking the law. The HSE’s Approved Code of Practice for Rider-operated lift trucks (ACOP L117) includes the requirements for basic forklift truck training.

What is the HSE’s position on wearing seat belts while driving forklift trucks?

Where restraining systems are fitted, they should be used.

Since 2002, all counterbalanced trucks, rough-terrain trucks and side-loading trucks (one side only) must be fitted with an Operator Restraining System, for example a seat belt. For older forklift trucks which do not have one, you should fit a restraining system if the risk assessment indicates that the vehicle could overturn, and where the operator could become trapped between the forklift truck and the ground.

Where a restraining system cannot be fitted, and the risks are sufficiently high, it will be necessary to procure another forklift truck which has such a system. Any forklift truck fitted with a Roll-Over Protective Structure (ROPS), which is designed to protect operators from the risk of injury resulting from a 180° or greater roll-over, should be fitted with a restraining system.

What should forklift truck training include?

All forklift truck training should always include three stages:

• Basic training: the basic skills and knowledge required to operate a forklift truck safely and efficiently.
• Job-specific Training: knowledge and understanding of the operating principles and controls of a forklift truck, and how it will be operated in your workplace.
• Familiarisation Training: Taking the above training and applying it on-the-job, under normal working conditions.

Basic and Job-specific Training, which can be combined, should take place off-the-job (i.e. away from production and other pressures of a normal working day).

Familiarisation Training needs to be done on the job, under close supervision. See the HSE’s Approved Code of Practice for Rider-operated lift trucks (ACOP L117) for more details on what each stage involves.

Do Supervisors require forklift truck training?

It is essential that supervisors have enough training and knowledge to encourage safe practices and recognise unsafe practices. This does not mean they need full forklift truck certification, but they do need to understand the risks involved, and how to avoid or prevent them. Some organisations offer training courses for supervisors and/or managers of forklift truck operations.

Supervisors should be able to:

• Carry out effective observation of operations and know what to look out for.
• Communicate effectively with operators and line managers.
• Maintain and promote health and safety standards, encouraging safe practices.
• Recognise and prevent unsafe practices.

Why and when do operators need Refresher training?

Regular refresher training can ensure that forklift truck operators:

• Maintain good driving habits.
• Learn new skills where appropriate.
• Reassess their abilities when operating a forklift truck.

Refresher training or re-testing might also be appropriate where operators:

• Have not operated forklift trucks for some time.
• Only operate trucks occasionally.
• Appear to have developed unsafe operational practices.
• Have had a recent accident or near-miss while operating a truck.
• Have changed their working practices or environment.

What monitoring and assessment is needed?

Forklift truck operators, even those who are fully certified, trained and experienced, need to be routinely monitored in the workplace and, where necessary, retested or provided with refresher to make sure they continue to operate safely.

You can identify the need for further training using a formal monitoring and assessment process, carried out by a suitable, fully accredited instructor. Such assessments should be formally recorded to ensure they are performed at reasonable intervals. Where an operator fails an assessment, you should arrange further training for them as soon as possible.

You may find it useful to record these assessments in operators’ personnel records.

When can ‘cages’ be used on lift trucks?

Working platforms, or ‘cages’, on forklift trucks are ‘non-integrated’, i.e. the operator controls the movement of the truck, including the cage. There are no controls in the cage to control the forklift truck or cage movement.

The use of non-integrated platforms for planned work is not allowed, as other purpose-built access equipment is available, such as the wide variety of mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs). MEWPs are readily available to hire, are better suited to carrying out work at heights, and are safer for the person using the platform.

The HSE’s guidance on ‘Working platforms (non-integrated) on forklift trucks’ — PM28, gives advice on the use of working platforms and clarifies legal requirements. It sets out the current standard for use of non-integrated platforms, i.e. for ‘occasional unplanned use’ only. PM28 also provides guidance on what ‘occasional unplanned use’ means, and clearly states that non-integrated platforms should only be used for work which is ‘exceptional’. Exceptional work would include unplanned work, such as the changing of a single lightbulb as an emergency job. This definition does not include stocktaking or planned maintenance work, such as cleaning a factory’s light fittings, cleaning windows, etc. For such jobs, a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) with integral controls, such as a scissor lift, should be used.

Can non-employees use forklift trucks at my site/workplace?

Use of forklift trucks by operators other than employees is increasingly common. Typically, this is done by visiting lorry drivers and service engineers. Employers and site controllers should cooperate to ensure that only adequately trained people operate forklift trucks in their workplace.

Do you offer private training for indiviudals?

Please contact us — further details are available on request.