How long is a forklift licence valid in the UK?

Anyone who operates a rider-operated lift truck at work, including counterbalance, reach and other lift trucks. Under PUWER, employers must make sure everyone who uses work equipment, and anyone who supervises its use, has received adequate health and safety training. HSE’s Approved Code of Practice L117 sets out what that training should include: basic training, specific job training and familiarisation, followed by ongoing monitoring.

• Nothing expires in law. The question is whether the operator is still competent, and whether you can show it.
• If an operator has an accident and you cannot show adequate training or reasonable reassessment, you may struggle to show you met your duty under PUWER regulation 9.
• Your own policy, a client contract or an insurer may set a fixed retest date. Missing that is a breach of the policy or contract.

1. 1

   Set a refresher policy

   HSE suggests you may decide on automatic refresher training or a retest after a set period, for example 3 to 5 years. Write the period down and apply it to every operator.

2. 2

   Retrain early when something changes

   L117 lists when refresher training or retesting might be appropriate: long gaps in use, occasional users, unsafe habits, an accident or near miss, or a change in working practices or environment.

3. 3

   Book conversion training for new truck types

   An operator moving to a different category of truck, or a significantly larger one, needs conversion training and a test on the new truck.

4. 4

   Use a competent instructor

   Formal assessments should be done by a suitably competent person, such as an instructor, and timetabled at reasonable intervals.

5. 5

   Authorise and record

   Update each operator’s training record with the truck types, test results and the date of the next planned retest.

A simple reminder plan: 60 days, 30 days, 7 days before the re-check date. The calculator above puts these in your calendar.

• A training record for each operator covering basic, conversion and refresher training, with test results. L117 asks employers to keep adequate records.
• The original certificate of basic training, or an annotated copy. There is no legal requirement to issue one, but it is useful evidence.
• Notes of workplace monitoring and any retraining after incidents.

• Calling it a licence and assuming it expires on a set date. It is the employer’s job to keep operators competent.
• Accepting a certificate from a previous employer without checking the operator on your trucks and site.
• Only retraining at the fixed interval and ignoring accidents, near misses or changes of truck.
• Letting an operator drive a new truck type without conversion training.