Guide
Forklift training cost: the five things a quote is built from
Updated
Ask three providers for a price and you will get three different numbers for what sounds like the same course. That is not evasion. It is because the course length itself is set by the candidate and the truck.
Why there is no published price
Lift truck operator training is not a licensed activity with a statutory fee. HSE's role is to set the standard, and it does that in the Approved Code of Practice Rider-operated lift trucks: Operator training and safe use (L117). What the law requires is in regulation 9 of PUWER 1998: every employer must ensure that all persons who use work equipment have received adequate training for purposes of health and safety, including the methods that may be adopted, the risks involved and the precautions to be taken. Adequate is a standard, not a course code, so the price follows the work.
The five variables
- Course type. Novice training is the long one. HSE says a basic course should be long enough to meet Appendices 1 and 2 of L117, typically 3 to 5 days. A refresher is scoped by assessing the operator first, and HSE warns that refresher courses of less than one day are unlikely to be effective.
- Candidate numbers. HSE gives a maximum trainee to instructor to truck ratio of 3:1:1 for practical training. Four candidates therefore usually means two courses, which is why the price per head falls sharply from one to three and then resets.
- Truck category. HSE is explicit that an operator with basic training on one type of lift truck or handling attachment cannot safely operate others without additional conversion training. Counterbalance, reach, telehandler and VNA are separate pieces of work.
- On-site or centre. Training at your premises costs more per day and covers more of the job: your trucks, your loads, your racking, your gradients.
- What you get at the end. Certificates, registration on an accrediting body's scheme and replacement paperwork are priced differently by different providers.
The three stages a compliant course covers
- Basic training: the basic skills and knowledge required to operate a lift truck safely and efficiently.
- Specific job training: the operating principles and controls of the truck to be used, and how it will be used in your workplace.
- Familiarisation training: applying what has been learnt, on the job, under close supervision.
Basic and specific job training can be combined and should happen off the job. Familiarisation has to happen on the job, under close supervision, which means part of the cost is your supervisor's time and never appears on any provider's invoice (HSE lift-truck training).
A quote that covers only basic training is not wrong, but it is not the whole job. Ask which of the three stages the price includes before you compare it with anything else. See also refresher training.