FAQs – Forklifts Course

Manufacturing, Warehousing, Freight/Transport and Retail

You contact ASWEFA to do the training ONLINE - AT YOUR SITE - AT OUR SITE. We can get you sorted, whether you are a beginner needing practical training or an experienced operator or somewhere inbetween.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 you must ensure employees are trained and competent in the job they are doing. The higher the risk of serious/fatal injury, the higher the penalty. The forklift licence shows you have been trained by a moderated and registered instructor against a training program that adheres to important regulations, such as the Approved Code of Practice for Forklift Trainers and Operators, Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, etc. If the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) does not provide this proof they are liable. This means you are covered for the forklift you have been shown as competent on your licence. If your licence is for a Reach and you are driving a Counterbalance you should get an assessment to upgrade your licence to show both. At ASWEFA we do this. At ASWEFA on an experienced operators course we assess you on the forklift machinery available on the day that you are competent to drive under the one training fee to ensure you have proof of competency for the entire 3 year period of the licence.

3 years. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 employers you must ensure employees are trained and competent in the job they are doing. The higher the risk of serious/fatal injury, the higher the penalty. The forklift licence provides this proof of competency.

It varies depending on whether you need practical training or not. If you are experienced and can stack and destack the cost is $150 + GST doing the theory training online and an assessment at our site. It is $189 + GST for face to face theory training at our site. It is $299 + GST for a beginner needing practical training.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 you must ensure employees are trained and competent in the job they are doing. The higher the risk of serious/fatal injury, the higher the penalty. The forklift licence shows you have been trained by a moderated and registered instructor against a training program that adheres to important regulations, such as the Approved Code of Practice for Forklift Trainers and Operators, Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, etc. If the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) does not provide this proof they are liable. The quickest, easiest and best way to ensure competency is to have a third party provide training. Every ASWEFA instructor is independently registered and moderated by governing authorities, unlike some competitors who sign off other trainers.

You will need to allow a half day if you are experienced or a full day (sometimes a day and a half) if you are a beginner.

If you have the right attitude it is not hard at all! 90% of drivers complete it in a day. We train drivers who have limited english but a can do attitude to learning.

A Telehandler with forks is considered a forklift so forklift training meets the safety requirements for operators. A Telehandler with a bucket is considered a Wheels machine and so a Wheels Endorsement is required to meet the safety requirements for training the operator. If the Telehandlers is used as a crane that is not attached via forks then Crane training will meet the safety requirements necessary for the operator.

Absolutely! The load plate for permanent attachments also needs to be adjusted to take into account the changes to the load centre and lifting capacity these attachments cause.

Not if your licence doesn't specify that you can drive a Reach. See FAQ - Can I drive any forklift now I have a forklift licence?

No, not if you are operating on a contained worksite. For a contained worksite you only need the Worksite Forklift Licence. It is only if you are operating where the public have access to be that you require the additional licence of an F Endorsement.

It is risky! There are fines for not only the company but also the individual if they have an accident that could have been prevented. If you have not been trained it is likely an accident has occurred due to human error (which includes not checking the forklift is safe to operate or the environment is not safe to operate in). Do you want to risk it? Given the cost to get licenced is minor in comparison it is best not to put yourself in this danger.

If you don’t have authority a company can say you where using it without their permission. On the flip side, just because someone has a licence doesn’t mean the company wants them to use their equipment (ie a contractor). There may be rules regarding their site and product that the contractor is not aware of. Ultimately it is the PCBU of that site that will be scrutinized in the event of an accident in regards to ensuring a safe environment is maintained. This is a step in ensuring safety.

$99 + GST when you come to our site OR we come to your site to carry out this and other training.

It is valid for 3 years.

Yes, an F Endorsement on your drivers licence is NOT proof of competency and you need to have a current Worksite Forklift Licence to prove competency and meet Health and Safety Act at Work obligations. Worksafe have contracted the moderation and registration of Forklift Operators to Te Pukenga (Competenz). All of ASWEFA’s instructors are individually moderated and registered and NOT signed off by one instructor only. This way you can be confident you are receiving the highest standard of training.

The F Endorsement is required when you drive a forklift on the road and not just the worksite. The road is essentially an area principally used for vehicle or pedestrian traffic, which the general public uses as a throughfare to gain access to another place. In practice, this will generally be areas and thoroughfares that the general public use and expect to be able to use such as a road, street or customer car park.

Yes, the licence is your proof of competency and training. If you drive a counterbalance then your forklift licence should display this. If you drive a Reach, a Telehandler, etc then you should have this displayed on your forklift licence. It is also important to ensure that you can proof you have been assessed as competent on large tonnage machinery if that is what you are using.

At least 15 years old for a worksite forklift licence - the Health and Safety Act 1995 section 56 states that no employee under the age of 15 can work with any machinery in a place of work.

Yes, a forklift is defined as a powered industrial lift truck which is a vehicle drawn, propelled and operated by mechanical, electrical or manual power, design incorporating a powered lift principally to lift, carry or stack goods by means of: • a fork consisting of one or more arms which support the load; or • A platform; or Any attachment or other mechanism

The employer has sole discretion to accept evidence of an Australian qualification. Individual employers may require additional training or a New Zealand forklift operators certification in accordance with organisation policies and procedures. The position of WorkSafe NZ (formerly Department of Labour) is that where a forklift operator provides a certificate or document that shows that they have received formal training/tuition/instruction/assessment under any of the 7 states and territories of Australia, then NZ employers should recognise this and therefore not preclude the Operator from gaining employment. In most cases, WorkSafe NZ agrees that “refresher” training at the earliest opportunity would be sufficient to address any of the differences between NZ and Australia