Posted By Chris Pope Steven, I can't remember where I got this from : Hand Pallet Truck Instructions For safe operation of hand pallet trucks, please read the following instructions. 1. Do not operate a hand pallet truck until you have checked its condition. Give special attention to wheels, handle, forks, lift and lever controls, and brakes (if so equipped). Do not operate damaged or faulty trucks. Do not attempt repairs unless you are trained and authorised to do so. 2. Operate hand pallet trucks only from the designated operating position. Never place any part of your body in the lifting mechanism or under the forks or load. Do not carry passengers. 3. Do not handle unstable or loosely stacked loads. Use special care when handling long, high or wide loads to avoid losing the load, striking bystanders, or tipping the truck. 4. Do not overload the truck. Check capacity plate for carrying capacity information. Overloading may cause truck to perform incorrectly. 5. The capacity of the truck assumes an evenly distributed load with the centre of the load being at the halfway point of the length of the forks. 6. Make sure that length of forks suits the length of the pallet. 7. Lower the forks to lowest height when the truck is not being used. 8. Hand pallet trucks are for general operation on level, flat hard surfaces. If ramps are encountered the optional handbrake can be ordered, or the truck may be stopped in emergencies by operating the lowering control, which will lower the load to the ground. 9. Stopping the truck, if the truck has to be stopped in this manner, care should be taken, so that no part of you body is near or under the load. It is important, not to operate a hand pallet truck on a grade with loads that are, too heavy to be easily handled by the operator. 10. Since these are manually operated trucks, they are not to be used by operators that are not physically capable of safely handling the trucks with a load.