• MichaelWilson
    10
    Hello,

    What are your thoughts around training and issuing authority to operate for electric pallet jack equipment.

    I have ride on pallet jacks that can not lift and a walk behind pallet jack that is used as a lifting table to reduce bending.

    Is forklift training excessive ? My thoughts are that people would be trained and assessed internally against the SOP?
  • Don Ramsay
    147
    if you check they may come under PILT regulations?
  • Steve H
    308
    1.2 POWERED INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCK VEHICLE
    DEFINED
    A powered industrial lift truck is a vehicle drawn or propelled by mechanical,
    electrical or manual power, designed incorporating a powered lift principally
    to lift, carry or stack goods by means of:
    (a) A fork consisting of one or more arms which support the load; or
    (b) A platform; or
    (c) Any attachment or other mechanism.
    Without limiting the above definition this includes forklifts, order pickers, side
    loaders, reach trucks, pallet trucks, platform trucks, straddle trucks and lateral
    stacking trucks. While this definition does not include straddle carriers, much
    of this code of practice is applicable to that equipment.

    The old COP for TRAINING OPERATORS AND INSTRUCTORS OF POWERED
    INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCKS (FORKLIFTS) includes this definition which appears to pull in "pallet lifters" Micheal, the UK HSE issued a clarification that pallet lifters that couldn't lift a load above 300mm were exempt from their LOLER examinations (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 -LOLER)
  • Don Ramsay
    147
    I do believe the UK determination does not apply here as the ACOP is the NZ reference or am I wrong?

    He is also using one as a workbench so it is probably above the 300 heights
  • MattD2
    337
    ↪Steve H I do believe the UK determination does not apply here as the ACOP is the NZ reference or am I wrong?

    He is also using one as a workbench so it is probably above the 300 heights
    Don Ramsay

    Even if the pallet jacks come under the definition of a "forklift" in the ACoP - there is nothing in the ACoP that states operators have to complete "forklift training" (which I am assuming @MichaelWilson is refering to an external NZQA Unit Standard 10851 training coarse) - all it says is workers need to be trainined on the equipment they used, and that employers shouldn't authorise an employee to use a forklift until they are satisfactorily trained. The NZQA training is satisfactory for typical forklift use, but for the pallet jacks used in Michael's workplace it may actually be better for the training to be in-house and specific to the equipment being used.
    @MichaelWilson the ACoP does provide some good guidance for developing a training program in section 5 if you go this route - ACoP TRAINING OPERATORS AND INSTRUCTORS OF POWERED INDUSTRIAL LIFT TRUCKS (FORKLIFTS)
  • MichaelWilson
    10
    Thanks @MattD2. That was my thinking and am underway in developing that training and an authority to operate system
  • Steve H
    308


    No reason why you can't do your own thing Micheal, you just have to be able to demonstrate that your in-house training system and assessment system does the job. This would only be an issue if an incident occurred.

    I spent 14 years as a Materials Handling Equipment technician, when I moved on to another life, setting up and running a plastic sheet extrusion company, I had no spare dosh for forklift operators training courses, so I set up my own in-house jobbie, using training materials that I had accumulated while servicing and rebuilding battery electric materials handing equipment.

    Steve H I do believe the UK determination does not apply here as the ACOP is the NZ reference or am I wrong?Don Ramsay

    No you are quite correct, I provided the UK LOLER determination to indicate what a well resourced Health & Safety Regulator does, possibly if things did happen to go "pear shaped" with Micheal's DIY training, his defence council might be able to make use of it as "orbita" if push comes to shove.

    For $75 per operator, this might be worth considering Michael walkie-stacker-electric-pallet-jack-training The old Department Of Labour used to have some useful Operator Guides for Counter Balance FL's, Reach Forklifts and one for Pallet Jacks, a quick search hasn't turned copies up, but maybe if you find the Internet Way Back Machine,you might turn up copies
  • Darren Cottingham
    58
    As others have said, a powered pallet jack is considered to be a forklift. Forklift operators usually do a 3-yearly operator's certificate which consists of theory followed by a practical assessment. This is what's recommended in the Approved Code of Practice.
    However, the HSWA says that you can either follow the code or do it an equivalent or better way. Therefore, you could theoretically make up your own training (as long as it covers the info in the ACOP), or you could do https://www.drivingtests.co.nz/course/walkie-stacker-electric-pallet-jack-training/ or you could do an instructor-led course. Any training you devise yourself must at least meet the requirements of the ACOP, though. At $74+GST, the online course would likely be the most cost-effective, then you do the practical assessment yourself following the guide.
  • Chris Hyndman
    71
    I'm conscious that I am going off on a slight tangent here, but I am hoping to hijack the knowledge being passed on in this thread.

    Does anyone have any information on the NZ requirements to inspect tail lifts on vehicles? This would fit under LOLER in the UK, but I can't find an alternative on these shores.
  • Steve H
    308
    Manufactures Instructions might shed some light Chris, and COF check maybe for visible wear damage,
  • Don Ramsay
    147
    try Palfinger as they manufacture tail lifts
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