FAQ

The HSC Approved Code of Practice and Guidance, detailed below, clearly states that “Children under minimum school leaving age should never operate lift trucks.”

It also states that operators of forklift trucks on docks premises must be at least 18. These are the only clear age-related statements in official documents. However, guidance goes on to say that young persons, under 18, often lack experience and maturity and are at greater risk than older employees and should not be allowed to operate forklift trucks without adequate supervision.

Many trainers will not accept trainee operators under the age of 17.

The minimum ages specified in road traffic legislation apply when forklift trucks are operated on public roads. Currently this would be age 17 for trucks up to 3.5 tonnes gvw, 18 up to 7.5 tonnes gvw, and 21 for heavier equipment.

(gvw = gross vehicle weight = the weight of the forklift truck and the load)

It is not true that if you are just going to cross a road from one site to another, or offload a lorry outside on the road, you do not have to register, tax and insure your forklift truck. That is an old wives’ tale!

If, on the task to be performed, the Forklift Truck will travel more than 1000 yards, then it must comply with Construction and Use Regulations or have Type Approval. This involves all sorts of legal requirements and probable quite major modifications to the truck and should not be undertaken lightly. Compliance may become quite complex.

However, if, on the task to be performed, the Forklift Truck will travel less than 1000 yards, on public roads, between sites or for unloading vehicles, then there is special dispensation from compliance with the Construction and Use Regulations.

In most circumstances it can be driven with little modification; but it must be registered and insured.

Compliance may be relatively simple but understanding all the rules is not straightforward. The rules cover items such as excise duty, lighting, number plates, operator requirements and even what is a public road.

The information required to understand all the requirements needs to be obtained from a number of different government departments.

A lack of maintenance can lead to serious accidents. It can also result in the breakdown of the equipment and unscheduled stoppages to the work process.

Regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) states: “Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair”. This is primarily to ensure that the equipment is safe, but it also has implications for productivity.

A sound system of daily or pre-shift checks is the cornerstone of good maintenance. This ensures that essential fluids are kept topped up and potential defects are identified before they become a problem. Further advice is available in the Avantgarde Training Ltd Daily Checks booklet.

Regular, preventive maintenance should be scheduled in accordance with the recommendations of the manufacturer of your equipment. Guidance on this can be provided by the fork truck dealer who provided the equipment. The time interval between the various services and inspections will vary according to the intensity of use and the working environment.

Forklift trucks are regarded as “plant” for maintenance purposes and time intervals are recorded in hours. For convenience your dealer will translate this into months for the purpose of determining the planned dates for maintenance activity.

If you use hired forklift trucks, you must allow the hire company regular access to the equipment for the purpose of maintenance.

In simple terms, from 1^st July 2007, it is illegal to smoke in a forklift truck fitted with a cab.

In addition, there will be a legal requirement for such trucks to be fitted with a “No Smoking” sticker. All enclosed vehicles used by more than one person at work, at any time, must be smoke-free.

To be more specific The Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007 state:

1. (Subject to the following paragraphs of this regulation,) an enclosed vehicle and any enclosed part of a vehicle is smoke-free (ie you can’t smoke in it) if it is used in the course of paid or voluntary work by more than one person (even if those persons use the vehicle at different times, or only intermittently).

2. A vehicle or part of a vehicle is enclosed for the purposes of paragraph 1 where it is enclosed wholly or partly by a roof and by any door or window that may be opened. (Having a roof alone would not be considered, to be enclosed under these regulations.)

3. “Roof” in paragraph 2 includes any fixed or moveable structure or device which is capable, of covering all or part of the vehicle, including any canvas, fabric or other covering.

Such a vehicle must display an international no-smoking symbol at least 70mm in diameter. In the case of hire trucks, it would be reasonable to expect that the hiring company would provide trucks with such signs already fitted.

It should come as no surprise that a forklift truck is designed to lift a specific weight to a specific height. That is one of the reasons why there are so many different types and models of forklift truck. Every forklift truck will have a rating plate. This plate will show the maximum weight that can be lifted to a given height and at a given load centre.

All operators should be taught to understand this terminology as part of their training. If it is not understood by your operators, or anyone else in the company, then you should ask your forklift truck supplier to explain what it all means. It is very important.

Whilst it is safe to lift lesser weights it is not safe to lift greater weights. When an attachment is used, even just a side shift, this extra equipment has a weight. In simple terms this extra weight becomes part of the load that the truck is lifting and the actual load must therefore be reduced. Unfortunately, the calculation is not straightforward as other items, such as the changed centre of gravity, also must be considered. The process of reducing the load that can be lifted is called de-rating.

Only the manufacturer of a forklift truck can determine the level of de-rating required. Your forklift truck supplier should be able to arrange this. Once the level of de-rating is agreed a new rating plate must be attached to the truck, showing the new rating details that apply when the truck is being used with the attachment. If a truck is to be used with more than one attachment, then there must be a rating plate to cover each attachment that may be used.

This is a bit like asking “how long is a piece of string?” However, there are guidelines.

Operating

As a rule, all gradients should be avoided. They are a hazard to any forklift truck operation. If they cannot be avoided, then the gradient must be met head on – straight up or down the slope. If the slope is icy or wet, or if the ground is uneven or soft, the hazard will increase. Most laden counterbalance trucks should cope with a gradient of 5%. Crossing any gradient sideways will increase the risk of the truck overturning. Loading or unloading of vehicles should take place on firm, level ground.

If difficult operating conditions cannot be avoided, consider the use of equipment designed for rough terrain or off-road use.

Workplace Design

Problems with gradients can be minimized by considering the risks during the design stage of new builds, or through modifications. The British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) provides technical guidance that covers gradients of general floor surfaces, doorways, ramps and drainage gullies, for example they quote 12.5% as a maximum gradient for ramps. However, wherever possible, the specific truck specification sheet should also be consulted.

Although a Thorough Examination for a forklift truck is like an MOT test for a car or lorry it is not valid for a set period. This is because there are different operational conditions that can impact on how quickly important components wear out. For example, the wear on a truck being used in a cement works is very different to that of a truck in a standard warehouse.

When a Competent Person carries out a Thorough Examination, he has a responsibility to assess the working environment. He will take this into account when he determines when the next Thorough Examination is due.

Under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER 98) he is required to state on the Report of Thorough Examination: “the latest date by which the next Thorough Examination must be carried out”. Effectively this date becomes the date on which the Report of Thorough Examination expires. The truck should not be used after this date until it has been inspected again and a new Report of Thorough Examination has been issued.

Every employer has a responsibility, under Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98), to ensure that employees have adequate training before they use work equipment.

The training required in order to operate most forklift trucks is explained in the special Code of Practice detailed below.

The operator should receive training on each type of equipment he or she may be required to operate. Such training may be provided by an in-house instructor or an external trainer. The training provider should then issue a certificate, or other document, giving details of the results of that training. This document is not a license.

The employer is required to give written authority for any employee to operate the equipment. If an individual document is issued, this is the closest document to a license. It is good practice to renew training & certificates every three years to ensure that the performance of all operators is formally monitored. Especially for Insurance purposes.