Can you get your forklift truck licence at 16?
removalboy:
Can you get your forklift truck licence at 16?
No mate, he’s past that age now, he’s about 50.
Actually you don’t legally need a licence of any type to operate any type of plant, only to be capable and competent or some such similar jargon. FLT ‘licences’ come in all shapes and forms but Ithink the CITB scheme for CPCS cards on site work is only for over 18’s.
Although I could be wrong.
In fact I think it did happen once 
Yes, I got mine at 16 and you do need a licence for a flt is health and safety exec come in it is a big fine for not having one. Maybe plant is different but in a warehouse you need a licence.
Big Brummie Macca:
Yes, I got mine at 16 and you do need a licence for a flt is health and safety exec come in it is a big fine for not having one. Maybe plant is different but in a warehouse you need a licence.
So what does all that mean ROG, you dont need a licence that has confused me I had always been told you needed a licence, well its more of a certificate than licence by employers. Apologies if what I said was wrong that is just what I had always been told.
Big Brummie Macca:
Yes, I got mine at 16 and you do need a licence for a flt is health and safety exec come in it is a big fine for not having one. Maybe plant is different but in a warehouse you need a licence.
As 8 wheels says you dont need a licence at all whether you work in a warehouse or not.
When I was a lad, living in a farming community, farmers lads used to take their tractor test so they could go to the youth club in comfort, on a Fordson major or a grey Fergie.
it was set out like an old motorcycle test where the examiner would walk and then jump out in front of you with his clipboard. Brave bloke if the pupil had forgotten to lock the wheel brakes together
I drove an 8 tonne Henley Husky on L plates at 16, mind you it wasn’t registered, we just carried trade plates.
Oh apologies then I was always told that you need an FLT licence, what is the bloody point of them then if you don’t actually need them? Also why do companies always ask for them if they basically mean nothing?
In reality most places will insist on some qualification or other even though it’s not legally required. By asking for licence holders or providing training they are covering themselves in the event of an accident.
It’s a bit of a grey area though, my job entails collecting and delivering all forms of mechanical plant from cherry pickers and telehandlers to dump trucks, loading shovels and excavators. I have no CPCS card to operate these items of plant but loading and unloading them requires a good understanding of their operation and control. Often the machine will have other bits to go with and the machine is used to load the rest of the equipment on the vehicle before loading itself. If I were to complete the operators course for every conceivable bit of plant I may come across I’d never have time to do any work. I am therefore technically competent to operate these machines in a limited capacity.
A while ago we were clearing some land and I was at a loose end, I was sent to drive the dumper on a private site. No big company red tape and policy and I am quite capable of operating a dumper.
It’s like everything else, just a paperwork exercise in arse covering.
As mentioned above, no licence required for a FLT from a legal perspective.
Where the law will get involved is in the event of an accident that involves untrained personnel. The company, and to a certain extent the individual, will have to be able to show that they ‘took all reasonably practicable measures including correct training, testing and monitoring’ of said personnel to have any chance of avoiding prosecution [in the event of an accident, injury or any occurrence that falls within the scope of RIDDOR - Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations] by the Health & Safety Executive.
If a company/operator can’t show that they have had the correct training then the law is broken from a Health & Safety perspective rather than (in the case of a FLT) driver licensing.
Some snippets of relevant info below (snippets, rather than a multitude of paragraphs of legislation!);
Works Equipment - The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 (amended 1998): the scope of the term ‘work equipment’ is very wide and includes not only industrial process machinery but things such as photocopiers, vehicle hoists, ladders, portable power tools and hand tools such as hammers, saws and knives etc.
(I’ve never had any training on photocopiers and hammers!!) 
Penalties - Individuals or organisations who break Health and Safety laws . . . . . . . fines of up to £20,000 in a magistrates court or unlimited fines for cases taken to a higher court. Corporate Manslaughter - introduced with effect April 2008 . . . . . . . an unlimited fine, possibly running into millions of pounds for a larger organisations.
(‘millions of pounds’ fines should be an incentive for employers to pay for the correct training for their personnel!)
I guess in a situation/job like 8 wheels has mentioned above, and in the event of an accident while loading of plant by an ‘untrained operator’, it would be up to the employers to convince the court that it was ‘not reasonably practicable’ to provide recognised, structured and approved training for each type/item of plant that would be loaded/unloaded. I’m not sure that the excessive costs (both money & time) would be seen as a suitable defence in the eyes of the courts.
Ref ‘approved training’, the Health and Safety Executive recognise 6 accrediting bodies (below). Training provided by any ‘others’ may not actually be counted as training at all in the event of a court case.
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Association of Industrial Truck Trainers (AITT)
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Construction Industry Training Board (now called Constructionskills), whose scheme is part of the Certificate of Training Achievement Scheme (CTA) which covers many types of construction plant. HSC’s recognition is only for lift truck training
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Independent Training Standards Scheme and Register (ITSSAR)
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Lantra
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National Plant Operators Registration Scheme (NPORS)
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RTITB
BTW, ITSAAR Instructor/Examiner available for all of your FLT (Counterbalance & Reach) and HIAB training needs (and I’m very reasonably priced)!! 
Thank you for the info people 
I’m 16 in a few months so was just interested as we do have a FLT
as long as you dont drive it on the roads unless of course it have a mot &number plate
you could get some practice in on the flt but may be able to take the course in the near future