A forklift operator’s certificate is a course that teaches forklift operation and safety protocols followed by a practical assessment that includes three types of lifting, manoeuvring, a pre-shift check and correct shutdown procedure.
The recommendation in the Approved Code of Practice is to repeat this training every three years. Note that this is a recommendation, it’s not mandatory. However, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 says that you must either follow the Code or choose an alternative method which has superior health and safety outcomes. In this case, you could renew your forklift operator’s certificate every two years and that would be superior but if you leave it longer than three years, that is worse.
If your forklift operator’s certificate course is overdue, what do you do?
You simply take the online forklift operator’s certificate course. There is nowhere in the Approved Code of Practice where it says anything like ‘if your certificate is within 3 months of the expiry date you can renew it by doing a refresher, but if not, you must take a full course.’ We have seen forklift training companies that say this exact thing and it’s simply them trying to get more dollars from you.
There is no difference in the theory material you must cover whether it’s a refresher course or a new course – the Approved Code of Practice outlines what it is. Therefore, if your operator’s certificate is overdue, you can be current again by completing our online forklift operator’s certificate course.
Darren is a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and the NZ Motoring Writers' Guild
