General informationNot legal or safety advice. Safe Work Australia doesn’t issue licences: your state or territory’s WHS regulator does, and Safe Work Australia lists each regulator.
Safe Work Australia’s forklift information sheet warns that a forklift is not safe to use as a work platform, and that standing on its fork arms or on a pallet to get extra height is not safe either.
A forklift may provide a work platform only if it is designed to lift people. Workboxes should only be used to raise people doing occasional tasks, and must be securely attached to the forklift. The operator should:
- confirm the forklift is suitable, is able to carry the expected load and is fitted with the right attachments for the workbox
- confirm the workbox is securely attached the way the manufacturer’s instructions require
- check that people can safely exit the workbox and the forklift if it fails in its normal operation
- make sure the park brake is on, the controls are in neutral and the mast is vertical
- do a test lift with the workbox attached before people get in
- stay at the controls at all times while people are in the workbox.
The sheet’s example of a workbox (its Figure 1) is engineer-designed, with a safety harness and lanyard, and correctly positioned on the fork arms.
The two classes
High risk work licence
LFLO
An illustration, not a real licence.
| Class | Safe Work Australia’s description | How SafeWork NSW puts it |
|---|---|---|
| Forklift truck (LF) | Use of a forklift truck other than an order picking forklift truck | Operating “a forklift truck, equipped with a mast and an elevating load carriage with a pair of fork arms or other attachment” |
| Order-picking forklift truck (LO) | Use of an order picking forklift truck | Operating “an order picking forklift truck where the operator’s controls are incorporated and elevate with the load carriage/lifting media” |
The class codes LF and LO are as SafeWork NSW lists them.
Telehandlers, in NSW. SafeWork NSW says a telehandler fitted with forks or a bucket needs no high risk work licence, but the business still owes a duty of care to make sure workers are properly trained to operate it. A telehandler with a personnel box, controls in the box and a boom of 11 metres or more needs a boom-type elevating work platform licence.
Learning before the licence
You don’t need a licence while you are enrolled in a training course for the work and a licence holder is supervising you, or once you have applied for your licence within 60 days of getting your statement of attainment. For forklifts, the information sheet puts it this way: a trainee may operate a forklift at their workplace if they are enrolled with a registered training organisation (RTO) to train as a forklift operator, and directly supervised by someone who has both the right licence and suitable workplace experience.
Getting one, step by step
- Before you start
You must be over the age of 18 to perform high risk work, Safe Work Australia says. SafeWork NSW’s wording for applicants is “at least 18 years of age”.
- Training
RTOs train and assess people for high risk work licences, and must be listed on the national register at training.gov.au.
- Assessment
Passing the national assessment instrument for the class earns a statement of attainment or equivalent.
- Within 60 days
Apply to your local WHS regulator within 60 days of getting the statement of attainment.
- 5 years
The licence is valid for 5 years. You can’t do high risk work while it is expired.
- Up to 12 months after expiry
Renew within 12 months after the expiry date; after that, you must do the training and assessment again before applying.
How NSW does itSafeWork NSW says its application process has changed. In NSW you apply online for an assessment enrolment number, sit the assessment with a SafeWork accredited assessor through your RTO, then apply online within 60 days of your Notice of Satisfactory Assessment. Applicants must also be able to speak English well enough to do the work safely with other people. Classes added later expire with the licence, and SafeWork NSW sends a reminder about 60 days before expiry. Its high risk work licences page has the current steps and fees.
Holding a licence
Safe Work Australia lists what a licence holder must do:
- work only in the classes of high risk work your licence covers
- follow any conditions placed on your licence
- have your licence on you so it can be inspected
- tell your WHS regulator within 14 days of moving that you have changed address
- tell your regulator as soon as you can if the licence is lost, stolen or destroyed
- return the licence to your regulator if asked.
A licence is generally valid across Australia; before working in another state or territory, check with that state’s regulator that it is recognised. SafeWork NSW adds that a licence must be issued by the state you usually live in, so someone who moves to NSW permanently transfers it.
In NSW, a worker must show their supervisor the licence with the relevant class before starting, and licence details are on the public register Verify NSW.
The workplace side
A licence covers the operator. Safe Work Australia’s forklift information sheet sets out what the workplace around them needs.
Traffic
Most forklift incidents involve pedestrians. A forklift must never strike a person or another item of powered mobile plant. The sheet’s controls: give pedestrians and forklifts their own clear paths, kept apart; outside designated walkways, people wear high visibility clothing; reduce blind spots; mark intersections and restricted areas clearly; and make sure everyone knows who has right of way. If that is not possible, drivers should try to keep eye contact with people on foot. WorkSafe Victoria’s forklift page describes a traffic management plan that separates forklifts from pedestrians.
Before each shift
Check the forklift and any attachments, and know the controls. Do a pre-start check at the beginning of each shift and every time you use a different forklift, as it may not have been left in a safe condition. Use seatbelts and other restraints where they are provided, unless a risk assessment says it isn’t safe and other controls are in place. Seatbelts keep you in the cab if the forklift tips over. The sheet adds that you must be trained in what the manual says about using the restraint system: its instructions, warnings and precautions.
While operating
The information sheet lists what an operator should do:
- look the way you are travelling and keep the way ahead in clear view
- if your view is blocked, slow down, have someone guide you, or reverse if that is safe
- keep body parts within the forklift
- avoid distracting behaviour, such as using a mobile phone or smoking
- be aware of other vehicles and people and make your intentions clear, for example sounding the horn before doorways or where there are no traffic signs or signals
- drive at a safe speed for the site limits, the load and the weather and road conditions
- carry the fork arms as low to the ground as reasonably practicable, tips tilted slightly up, loaded or not
- adjust your operating style to the ground surface, weather, layout and other hazards such as water
- avoid speeding up, slowing down and turning too quickly
- make sure trucks and trailers at the loading dock are stopped and secured with brakes set, using jack stands when needed, and secure any portable yard ramps
- be aware of fumes and possible carbon monoxide poisoning when operating propane-powered forklifts indoors
- before getting off: lower the carriage, park on level ground with no load on the forks, put the park brake on, set the controls to neutral and turn the power off, with the start control locked in the off position
- when a load is slung under the forks or lifted with straps, do it the way the manufacturer recommends.
What tips a forklift over
- excessive speed, especially while turning
- heavy braking
- overloading
- moving with an elevated mast and load
- sloping surfaces
- going down a ramp with the load in front
- turning sideways on a ramp
- smooth and slippery surfaces
- the forks hitting an obstruction
- tight turns
- loads that shift or sit off-centre.
Attachments and power lines
Fit lifting attachments that suit the load only if they are required, and make sure you can get the attachment’s information. With an attachment fitted, the forklift’s load chart and the attachment’s information, often on its load rating plate, give the de-rated capacity; the attachment should be secured as the manufacturer instructs, and specific training and supervision in using it should be provided as necessary. No person and no part of the forklift should come within an unsafe distance of an overhead or underground electric line: the sheet warns that you don’t have to touch a line to be electrocuted, because a flashover or arc can reach you.