Information For Companies
Why You Should Train
- To ensure compliance with regulations relating to the driving of lift trucks and related equipment – employers must ensure that all operators they employ, both new and existing, are adequately trained and, when necessary, provide for their additional or refresher training.
- To avoid accidents and incidents – which can result in personal injury, downtime, damage to buildings, plant and equipment, detailed investigation by HSE and even to prosecution.
- To improve staff confidence and morale – quality, job related training with the emphasis on safe and efficient working practices develops operator confidence and encourages them to become productive and efficient members of the team.
- To improve productivity AND GAIN THE COMPETITIVE EDGE
Consider:
- Is your staff training up to date?
- Are your records properly maintained?
- Do you need to update skills for new or existing equipment?
- Are your Managers and Supervisors aware of their responsibilites?
If the answer to any of these is NO, or you are unsure, then give us a call or
drop us an email to fix the problem.
What Is Compliance? Is Your Business Covered?
In order to comply with their duties under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998 and general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers must ensure that all operators they employ, both new and existing, are adequately trained and, when necessary, provide for their additional or refresher training.
The HSE Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) provides advice, guidance and acts as a yardstick for employers in assisting them to comply with the above legislation.
(A) Initial Training
The training of operators to use stacking rider-operated lift trucks (“rider-operated” means any truck capable of carrying an operator and includes trucks controlled from both seated and stand-on positions, which may be fixed or fold-away) should follow a carefully devised programme and an instructor should assess the operator throughout its duration. Additionally, operators are required to pass both a practical and theoretical test of the skills and knowledge needed for safe operation on all types of lift truck and attachments that they will or could be required to use in their work and should consist of the following elements:
1. Basic Training - The basic skills & knowledge required for safe operation.
2. Specific Job Training - Knowledge of workplace and experience of any special needs & handling equipment.
3. Familiarisation Training - Practical operation on the job under close supervision
(B) Refresher Training
There is a further obligation on employers which states that any training, once given, should be maintained to a minimum standard. Whilst there is no specific requirement to provide refresher training, even trained and experienced lift truck operators need to be re-assessed to ensure that they continue to operate lift trucks safely. This assessment should be part of a standard monitoring procedure, be formally time-tabled to ensure it is done at reasonable intervals and should take into account operators who have not used a truck for some time; are occasional users; appear to have developed unsafe practices; have had an accident or near miss, etc. Automatic retraining after a set period of time is undoubtedly the best way of ensuring that operators are adequately trained.
The current HSE view is that they would expect to see some form of refresher training up to a maximum period of five years from the date of the last test. Most companies, within their own Health and Safety policy, tend to adopt between a three and five year period and the guiding principle is that employers need to maintain the competence of operators to use lift trucks safely through a laid down, formal process of monitoring and assessment
Failure to comply with the above could invalidate company insurance and our advice would be to check the specifics of your own policy documents. Technically a licence, once issued never expires, and it is not, therefore, illegal to drive a fork lift truck after the recommended period. However, in the event of accident, it could be argued that the company has failed in its obligation to ensure training standards are maintained.
So whether you are a company developing your employees or an individual looking to train, retrain, or to update your existing qualifications, gain the advantage and
contact us today.
(B) Refresher Training
Both schemes are centralised registration and certification systems for Lift Truck operators and other mechanical handling equipment drivers.
Why has NORS / NPORS been introduced? To:
- Eradicate counterfeit operator certificates issued by trainers who are not properly accredited by RTITB or NPORS.
- Align with potential and forthcoming European and other international requirements, and to provide internationally recognised and transferrable records of training and competen
- Reinforce adherence to training standards by only certificating and registering fully acredited training
- Raise confidence in operator training, competence and qualification to support high quality training provided by accredited training organisations
So whether you are a company developing your employees or an individual looking to train, retrain, or to update your existing qualifications, gain the advantage and
contact us today.
Why Choose Excell To Handle Your Training?
At Excell Lift Truck Training Limited we take pride in the quality of our training programmes and offer a lively relaxed approach to training.
What sets us apart, we believe, is that we enjoy our role and take an active interest in the relevance of our courses to your specific needs and to the progress and development of each trainee. Where problems exist, we identify those problems and work closely with the individual to try to resolve matters, prior to a test situation, thus ensuring that everything possible is done to achieve the required result.In addition, we offer a support service to all our customers whereby upon completion of the course, we are still on hand to offer advice or assistance as required. This is seen as an integral part of the service which we offer and is undertaken free of charge.
We have a fully equipped Training Centre based in Trafford Park, Manchester, which uses the latest training techniques and a range of modern trucks.
Who Should You Contact?
