Tempo di lettura: 8 minuti
Forklift training: what a good course covers
A good forklift training course combines three things: instruction on the truck and the rules, hands-on practice with a trainer, and an evaluation of the operator in the real workplace. If one of the three is missing, the course is incomplete, however good the other two are.
A forklift training course has to prepare someone to drive one type of truck, on one floor, around the people who work there. That is why the most detailed public rules agree on the shape of it: in the US, OSHA requires a combination of formal instruction, practical training and an evaluation of the operator in the workplace,¹ and in the UK, the HSE says training should always include three stages: basic, specific job and familiarisation.²
The disagreements are in the details, and those details are what separate a good course from a certificate on file. In this guide we look at what the rules ask for, which topics a course should cover, which parts can be taught on a screen and which cannot, and how to check a provider before you book.
No single rule sets a world standard, and the requirements vary a lot in how much they specify:
| Where | Rule or guidance | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|
| United States | OSHA 29 CFR 1910.178(l) | Formal instruction, practical training and a workplace evaluation; an evaluation at least every three years; the employer certifies each operator¹ |
| United Kingdom | HSE guidance and the L117 code of practice | Basic, specific job and familiarisation training; basic courses typically last 3 to 5 days; no fixed refresher interval² |
| European Union | Directive 2009/104/EC, Annex II | Specific training for the safe driving of self-propelled equipment, with no detail on content or length³ |
| Spain | Royal Decree 1215/1997, the INSST guide and UNE 58451 | Specific training, plus written evidence of it and of the employer's authorisation; the UNE standard adds content, duration and assessment, and is voluntary⁴ ⁵ ⁶ |
If you operate in a country where the rule says little, the OSHA topic list and the HSE stages are useful references for what good looks like. Always check the requirements that apply to your own sites.
This part explains how the truck behaves and why. It covers controls, capacity, stability, visibility with a load and the differences between a forklift and a car. It can happen away from the floor, and OSHA's own examples of formal instruction include lectures, interactive computer learning, video and written material.¹
Nobody learns to stack a pallet by watching someone do it. The HSE says basic and specific job training should take place off the job, away from production pressure, and gives a maximum ratio of three trainees per instructor and truck as an example, except in theory sessions.² Check that ratio when you compare providers, because it decides how much time each person actually spends driving.
A pass on a training yard does not prove someone can work safely in your aisles at the end of a shift. OSHA requires the evaluation to look at the operator's performance in the workplace,¹ and the HSE adds familiarisation on the job under close supervision, as a stage that newly trained operators should not skip.²
OSHA's list is the most complete public reference, and it splits topics in two: the truck and the workplace.¹ We have added a third column with where we think each block is best taught:
| Block | Topics | Best taught |
|---|---|---|
| The truck | Controls and instruments, steering and manoeuvring, visibility, forks and attachments | Short explanation, then on the truck |
| Limits | Capacity, stability, operating limits, the manufacturer's warnings | Screen first, because it is about understanding why, then a demonstration |
| Daily checks | Pre-use inspection, charging or refuelling | Screen first, then done on the real truck |
| The site's floor and layout | Surfaces, ramps, narrow aisles, closed areas with poor ventilation | On site, with a site-specific module beforehand |
| Loads | How loads are built, load stability, stacking and unstacking | Mostly on the truck |
| People | Pedestrian traffic in the areas where the truck operates | Site-specific module, and walking the routes |
The second half of the table is where generic courses fall short. A provider can teach capacity anywhere, but only your site can show which aisle is too narrow, where the ramp is and which corner has no visibility.
Video and interactive lessons do the theory well, and OSHA accepts them as formal instruction. But the same rule requires practical exercises by the trainee and an evaluation in the workplace.¹ So be careful with any course that sells itself as fully online: at best it covers the first of the three parts, and the rest still falls to you.
The split is useful in the other direction too. If the theory happens before the session with the instructor, the time with the truck goes to driving.
A course for drivers solves half the problem. European rules require organisational measures to keep workers on foot out of the area where self-propelled equipment operates, and appropriate measures to prevent injury if they do need to be there.³ For the rules to work, the people on foot have to know them.
Pickers, agency staff and visitors do not need to learn how to drive, but they do need a short course on walkways, exclusion zones, eye contact with the driver and what to do when a truck is reversing. It is the kind of training that matters most when a site brings in new people quickly, and we go into the wider plan by job in our guide to health and safety training in warehousing and transport.
The rules differ on the calendar and agree on the events. OSHA requires an evaluation at least once every three years, while the HSE sets no fixed period and suggests that a set interval, for example 3 to 5 years, may be one way of managing it.¹ ² In both cases, some events call for a refresher whatever the date:
The HSE adds two more worth tracking: occasional users and people who have not driven for some time.²
Imagine a logistics operator that installs narrow-aisle racking in one of its warehouses. Its operators are experienced and in date, so nobody thinks of training until a trigger on the list above applies: the site has changed, and some drivers are moving to reach trucks.
A sensible response has three steps. Drivers moving to reach trucks get conversion training with an instructor. Everyone who drives on that site does a practical evaluation in the new aisles. And all staff, drivers or not, take a ten-minute module on the new layout and pedestrian routes before the racking goes live.
That third step is the one that usually depends on an already busy safety lead. Platforms like Vidext can prepare that short interactive lesson from the site's own procedure and plan, for the safety lead to approve before it goes out, and keep a record of who has completed it. The driving and the evaluation stay with the instructor. If the same site also takes on new starters, the module can sit inside the wider onboarding for warehouse staff and drivers.
These five questions usually separate a good provider from a certificate factory:
The certificate is the easy part to check and tells you the least. What matters is whether someone has driven that type of truck, been watched doing it in your aisles and knows how your site handles people on foot.
So when you read a course outline, look past the theory, which is usually fine. Ask where the practice takes place, who evaluates it and what is left for you to do. That last part is almost always more than the brochure suggests.
It depends on the type of truck and the person's experience. The HSE says a basic course for novices is typically 3 to 5 days, and that some experience can reduce this, although that experience should not be overestimated.² OSHA and the EU directive set no number of hours.¹ ³
Only in part. Online lessons can cover the theory, and OSHA accepts interactive computer learning and video as formal instruction. It also requires practical exercises and an evaluation in the workplace, so a course that is fully online does not cover the whole requirement.¹
OSHA does not set an expiry date for the training, but it requires an evaluation of each operator at least every three years, and a refresher after events such as an accident or a change of truck.¹ In the UK, the HSE sets no fixed period.² Check the rules in your own country.
Under OSHA, the operator's name, the date of training, the date of evaluation and who carried them out.¹ In Spain, the INSST guide asks for written evidence of the specific training and of the employer's authorisation to operate the equipment.⁵
They do not need operator training, but they do need to know the site's pedestrian rules. EU rules require measures to keep people on foot away from the area where the equipment operates, or to protect them if they must be there.³ A short site module on routes and exclusion zones is a practical way to cover it.
¹ 29 CFR 1910.178, Powered industrial trucks, paragraph (l) - OSHA ² Lift-truck training - Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ³ Directive 2009/104/EC on the use of work equipment, Annex II - Official Journal of the EU, via BOE ⁴ Royal Decree 1215/1997 on the use of work equipment, Annex II - BOE ⁵ Technical guide on the risks of using work equipment - INSST ⁶ UNE 58451:2016, Training for operators of industrial trucks up to 10,000 kg (extract) - AENOR
Programma di promozione dell'assunzione a tempo indeterminato di giovani qualificati, nell'ambito del Sistema Nazionale di Garanzia Giovani. Vidext ha ricevuto una sovvenzione di 25.401€, concessa da LABORA (Servizio Valenciano per l'Impiego e la Formazione), per l'assunzione a tempo indeterminato nel 2024 di giovani qualificati iscritti al Sistema Nazionale di Garanzia Giovani, azione suscettibile di cofinanziamento da parte del Fondo Sociale Europeo Plus (FSE+) 2021-2027 o di qualsiasi altro fondo dell'Unione Europea. Expediente ECOGJU/2024/550/46. La presente pubblicazione è effettuata in adempimento degli obblighi di trasparenza stabiliti dalla Legge 19/2013, del 9 dicembre.
