paddyB,
If government employees down under are like those in the States you often get a resposne from an uninformed individual who "thinks" they have the correct answer or your call to them interrupted a "text messaging" session they were having and jsut wanted to blow you off so tehy could get back to doing something they are not paid to do.

My suggest to CYA is contact them one again and get the response from them in writing, pass on to your companies management and keep a copy in your personal file.

It seems to me Austrialia is much more progressive than the response you received.

Thanks for the response guys,
i did ask the question here in oz but the response from the OHS was that they didnt think there was a need to seperate both.
i'm in a new warehouse where i have to assess licences drivers, but when i ask them about their experience, they tell me they have never operated a reach truck before. then im asked the question why i want to give them more training?????

Paddy,
It seems that teh UK & US have a more defined requiredment for employers to "qualifiy or certify" forklfit operators than those from Australia. Maybe it is because of our "lawyers".

Have you made a comparison of what the UK's, Health & Safety at Work Act and the US, Occumational Safety & Health Acts state vs what Australia has published? That might help you.
With the internet you should be able to find this. From the US stand point "Clark" Material Handling Company makes a nice publication for Employers on this subject - I'll try to find the exact name and publication number for you.

In the UK, we believe that there are sufficient operating differences between a counterbalanced lift truck and a reach truck to justify a separate certificate of basic training. In a similar manner, there is a sufficient difference between a counterbalanced truck and, say, a pivot-steer truck. In each case there is a separate training course supporting specific certificates of basic training. There are recommended routes to convert from one to the other that allows for existing skills to be varied to encompass the new requirements. This has worked well for some 30-odd years.

There is no lift truck licence in the UK and, according to my sources in HSE, there never will be. This is due to the fact that there would need to be a change to the Health and Safety at Work Act to encomapass this as provision for licencing is not included withoin its scope.

Hey Guys,
by the way as a matter of interest, what are your views on the question i asked at the start?

Heading for a few this evening....... u have the weather we have the guinness......trow another shrimp on the barbie

sadly the REAL waterford crystal is no more, if you have some hold onto it because its machine made now in germany or somewhere like that. not hand crafted like it was in waterford.
Damo, work is going good down here, but its starting to slow down. hopefully the economy will recover very soon.

jeyeas i'd love a real pint of guinness now.

HY PADDY HOWS THE WORK GOING OVER THERE STAYED UP IN BARRACK STREET WATERFORD LAST WEEK ,,,,

I'm almost certain it is - that's why they drop it very slowly to the final count down from 10 to 0 (12 teh New Year) and then everyone gets Irish again - lot of kissing , hugging and consumption of pints (we do that twice a year - St. Paddy's Day & that's an all day affair w/green beer & green rivers, especially in Chicago. I understand Waterford is not in good financial shape these days. Maybe they can speed up the drop and create some business for them.

that ball that drops every year, would that be a waterford crystal ball? as in waterford ireland?

Good for you and your family. That's what this is all about.

Been a bit of a nomad myself - We have moved to six different cities in my career. This is our last stop - I hope.

You know Austrailia and Georgia, US have a lot in common - King George - he sent the real bad guys went to "down under" We still like Mel Gibson and Quigley & the Aussie New Year's celebration a lot more intersting than watching a ball drop in the same place every year. PlusI can bring in the New Year with y'all at 9:00 AM my time & go to bed "happy" at 9:00 PM. lol

Keep a stiff upper lip!

Regards

hi Johnr j
My signature line is about taking that chance that comes around maybe once in a lifetime.
In my case I immigrated to Australia from a city called Waterford in Ireland with my family of wife and 2 kids, giving up a very good job, house etc. and people at home though I was mad, BUT Australia is fantastic and we as a family have never been happier. (Thank you Australia)

paddy8
I concurr with your thoughts on operator training. But can't quite agree with your signature line. In my case, I worked in this industry 41 years, now retired, I can honestly say I have never regretted it - it was fun, hard work, long hours most of the time. But had the opportunities to travel to 42 of our 50 states, visit 5 different countries- never to"down under", left a little legacy along the way, met some fine people and made some close & still close friends - that ain't bad. Now I made room for a least one younger guy to get similar opportunities.

C Ya Mate!

hi,
Can you say the same about cars and motor bikes i.e. the same principle applies? Same rules of the road etc.
We all know that both machines handle differently, they turn differently, they have different rules etc e.g. on a counterbalance you are instructed to have the seatbelt on and stay within the safety cab in case of a rollover BUT with the reach you are told to step off the machine in case of a rollover because there is no seatbelt (well there's no seat belts on any of the 25 reach trucks we have here)
I think too many people don't take forklift training and the dangers involved seriously enough (I'm talking about some employers) and trainers should leave nothing to chance. Trainers should never assume that trainees will show common sense, they should insist the rules and procedures are followed to the letter. Have you ever heard the saying that common sense is not very common!

I do agree unit and on site familiarization training is important, but so is giving trainees the opportunity to train in a controlled environment and teaching the basics on the specific machine they will be using in their workplace.

In the US the owner of the company/employer is required by OSHA to provide training for the functions an operator is to be performed - eg loading/receiving dock, warehousing, production support, etc. These are to be company management supervised in a "simulated enviroment" and not "on the job training" where other employees are present. Accordingly, the type of equipment used can be widely different - counterbalance sit down or stand up, pantograph or mast reach, walkie types, order selectors, turret truck s etc. It is obvious that each of these type "do not" operate on the same principles and training for each needs to be provided. The empoyer needs to keep a file on each operator of the type of equipment that they have been certified to operate and the work enviroment they have been qualifed to work in.

In the end it is the employer that makes the final decision who is granted a certifcate. The forklift dealer can support the training by conduction training class on principles of operation of the various equipment types etc, or provide train the trainer programs or supply training materials

That's the law in a nutshell - in actual practice you'll find employers that do comply and others who do little or nothing or some like to call "risk management"