Forklift truck policy

You must have well considered management arrangements for the use of forklift trucks. To ensure that you have a good foundation for their safe use put in place a forklift truck policy.

Risks and benefits

Each year there are several fatalities from forklift truck accidents and hundreds more workers are hospitalised. By putting in place a Forklift Truck Policy your staff and managers will know what’s expected of them to reduce the risks of an accident.

Note. It’s important that you tailor the policy to suit your own workplace and organisation. To help you in this we’ve left blank spaces where you should include job titles or information about your business. We’ve included notes in italics which you should follow and then delete to produce the finished document.

What’s covered?

Our policy includes:

• a general statement of policy on the topic
• the legal position
• risk assessment - who is responsible for undertaking the assessment, who provides the resources for any risk control measures required, what aspects of the work the assessment should cover
• selection and training - medical, training and authorisation criteria for drivers
• supervision - training/briefing for supervisors and managers, action to be taken by supervisors when controlling forklift trucks use on a daily basis
• equipment selection and maintenance - including statutory inspection and testing, maintenance and in-house routine inspections
• workplace organisation, e.g. lighting, space, layout, signage, etc.