1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
Warehouse staff as well as drivers must be trained. Tim
Page 64
Page 65
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Maughan reports.
HARGREAVES TRAINING SERVICES
In the quest for profits -and survival— more and more hauliers are offering added value services such as warehousing. But as well as the building and load handling equipment, taking this route entails extra training.
Leeds-based Hargreaves Training Services offers ADR.CPC, Class 1 and forklift training. "We are doing more forklift training than we have ever done in the past 10 years," says MD Ian Peacock.
Hargreaves is currently training 2,500 forklift operators a year. "Quite often they are people who work, or want to work, in warehousing," Peacock adds. He stresses that training dramatically reduces accident rates: "Forklifts are potentially lethal," he warns.
The firm trains students on its own premises (it has satellite offices in Newcastle upon Tyne,Manchester, and Barnsley) and also visits customers bases to offer what Peacock describes as "bespoke" tuition.
He believes that many operators run forklifts but fail to arrange effective training. Some want to avoid the expense; others may simply be unaware of the need to make provision for training.
Malcolm Harding, who runs Hargreaves' Leeds site, takes us through the nitty gritty of forklift training. Unlike HGVs, he explains, these machines are not classified according to gross weights; instead they are categorised by their lifting capacities.
Examinations
Smaller machines lift 1,000kg, he says,Typical warehouse forklifts can handle 5,000kg, although there are bigger models.
The initial test involves a pre-use inspection, a practical test on the machine and a written test. "Some get this completely wrong," Harding warns.
Workplace accidents are often caused by lack of observation when racking is struck, which can lead to an avalanche of pallets. Machines can also topple over. "If they fall over and land on somebody," he adds,"it can result in death."
The 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act stipulates that personnel who operate this type of machinery must have adequate training by a competent person; companies can set up their own training.The HSE L117 booklet which covers forklift operation offers advice on this.
It takes 10 days to train an instructor, who will be entered onto the Road Transport Industry Training Board register. He can then train company personnel to operate forklifts.
If things go wrong in the warehouse the Health & Safety Executive will investigateand if the operator does not have the necessary training and paperwork in place the consequences could be dire. •