Drivers
Your forklift licence/certificate is a record of your completion of training and although there isn’t a technical expiry date you will find that 3 years is the maximum gap you should have between your next refreshers training. This figure arises due to two factors:
- The Health and Safety executive recommend 3 years as the maximum span between refresher training to ensure that your skills are kept up to date and that good driving habits are maintained.
- Your details will be kept on the National Operator Registration Scheme (NORS) for a period of 3 years from your last completion of training. NORS is the centralised validation, registration and certification scheme for all RTITB accredited training.
Even if you discounted the above factors it’s wise to remember that your training doesn’t stop once you leave your training session. You must continue learning every day so that your skills are kept up to date and so that no nasty habits slip into your driving technique.
A word for Employers
If you are an employer then you have a duty to ensure your workers are suitably trained and it’s not an excuse to train them once and then forget about it. The decision to retrain and refresh rests with you as stated in the Health & Safety At Work Act (1974) and Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998) which dictates ‘adequate information, instruction and training’ is provided for all employees.
You may also find that there is a specification in your insurance documents which stipulate a specific timescale for refresher training to minimise insured risk
Workers may also need refresher training if:
- There has been an unsafe incident or ‘near miss’
- You change the vehicles they use
- You move sites
- You change the way they work
- They become disabled
For more information on refresher training please visit the Forklift Training Courses section on this website.