Posted By George Wedgwood Peter, I really think that for practical everyday FLT operator function, three years is always best before a refresher and that is what I have 'embedded' into our safety management system for competence management. However, I am aware (from a recent courtcase too close for comfort!) that the HSE were satisfied with a certificate from a FLT operator that had been trained elsewhere over four years previous to the date of enquiry. The operator had been involved in a serious injury to another employee. So, in reality I was not happy with the person's competence but after a site appraisal on FLT practice, he was found to be quite adequate in his ability and had improved himself in his initial period of operation. Therefore, It could be assumed that some individuals could go as long as 5 years but some may not even get to three years before poor skills and bad practice creeps in. Best to programme three years and then if the date slips it's not too serious! George

Posted By Frank Hallett I agree substantially with George above; however, it must not be forgotten that an integral part of the determination of the period for "refresher" training will be directly related to the degree of FLT activity supervision routinely on site, the type of work being undertaken and, of course, the employees' demonstrated capability, age and experience. Basically, one size really doesn't fit all! Frank Hallett

Posted By Debbie Spowart Whilst our safe working proceedure states that all FLT operatives are subject to a re-test every 3 years we also closely monitor the damages to pallets caused by FLTs on all of our sites. We then send in our own Company FLT instructor (trained to RTITB level) and re-assess the necessary shift.