BITA Training
The importance of training
Industrial trucks are powerful tools, and like all powerful tools, they should only be used by properly trained operators.
Accordingly, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) places a legal requirement upon employers to ensure that industrial truck operators have received adequate initial training, to ensure that risks are prevented or adequately controlled.
As HSE booklet L117 Rider-operated lift trucks: operator training explains, the Health & Safety Commission advises employers on training of lift truck operators and their supervisors, and recognises Accredited Bodies which in turn validate as competent the grass-roots training provided by organisations or individuals who become known as Accredited Training Providers (ATPs).
Two such accredited bodies are BITA Affiliate members – RTITB Ltd and the Association of Industrial Truck Trainers.
BITA’s safety booklets reinforce best practice
Although this accreditation system is voluntary, it provides employers with reassurance that their staff are receiving a proven high standard of training, which in turn helps to minimise risks.
However, no matter how good the training, it’s also vital for operators to keep reinforcing the best practice they have learned, while they work, in a continuous ‘on-the-job’ approach to Operator Training, which increases accountability.”
However, the average industrial truck’s operator environment provides no space to carry around bulky reference materials; what’s needed is a portable best practice guide that operators themselves can carry with them for instant reference and checklists before starting work, and to account for all eventualities during the working day.
The BITA safety booklets represent a distillation of over 50 years’ wisdom in the safe and efficient operation of industrial trucks and may be ordered on this website or by phone, with substantial discounts for BITA members.