Ok. Heres a bit more of a technical explanation.
The Land Transport Act defines
a road as "blah blah blah
"a place to which the public have access, whether as of right or not;"
So at a logical level this is any place over which a vehicle can travel and is driven by a person. Its why a road can also include a "beach"
So it makes sense that if someone can drive a forklift around a work yard it would be a road. Especially if a person can gain access (by right or not) to that place.
However we have to remember the Land Transport Act is a macro Act - it covers New Zeland roads.
But what about at a local level? Where we actually have our business?
Well here we have the Local Government Act. And this Act makes specific provision for "private roads"
A Private road is "any roadway, place, or arcade laid out or formed within a district on private land". The key element here is "private land"
Which begs the question what is "private land". How do you delineate it from public land and therefore public roads.
For us, we have taken a belt and braces approach and essentially said coming through our open gates makes it a public road. It really just makes life simple for us if a Forklift Operator has to go out on to the open road for any reason. Basically we say if you are operating outside the building we want an F Endorsement. Or put another way, if you don't leave the building on a forklift you don't need an F endorsement.
However. If Worksafe visits and they decide to get all bolshy, I'd argue that actually from the place that demarks our open gate is the spot where public road ceases and a private road begins. And I'd pull out our land survey map to prove that.
And then I would argue that my forklift, while it is on my private land and is not required to be registered and I don't need to show a registration plate. And since it doesn't need to be registered is doesn't need to have a Warrant of Fitness.
And to cap it all off, if I go back to the Land Transport Act A person must be licensed to drive on a road and if they want to drive a fork lift on a road they must have an F Endorsement. But since my yard is a "private road" (because it is a roadway on private land) and not a "road" my forklift operator does not need an F endorsement.
So sorry for the long explanation. Its a good argument for why we shouldn't focus on what the law says - we should focus on the right thing to keep our people safe. And frankly having an F Endorsement or an "OSH Certificate" achieves neither.
And I also reckon it is a crying same Worksafe have not updated their forklift resources for donkeys years. Best I say no more than that.