In response to your question as to putting your mind at ease.
There is no set time span as to when training must be completed. We are very fortunate that we have in-house company trainers/evaluators/mentors. Our training program can last from a minimum of one (1) week up to three (3) weeks. We will never let a trainee go on their own until they have gone through formal (classroom) training by a certified trainer, then gone through hands-on training that is conducted by an evaluator and then gets placed on a crew and assigned to a mentor. Once an evaluator has signed off on his hands-on training he is allowed to drive independently but he is NOT placed on crew without being assigned to a crew mentor that is there for support and becoming familiar with the crew requirements.
There is no way we can justify saying a person should be totally trained and certified in a three day or week time span, it depends on the trainee and the trainers.
So back to your original question as to putting your mind at ease...well that is something that you have to be able to do and I think you can accomplish that by making sure that you do not just "certify" someone using a time span criteria and that you turly use a profiency span time line. As Dan stated in one of his responses, it is your signature stating that the lift truck operator is certified and ready to go, so please if you have any doubts, don't sign them off.

With Mentor which is a company that is based in the UK who Asda use for their training its 3days for a novice on the reach and then a day conversion to the counterbalance. (4days in total for both trucks)

That is why I have several levels of competency. If the person appears to do what the score is, and operates the truck properly, full competency. If they are still driving as a noobie, and require more time on the lift before undertaking difficult tasks although they prove they can perform menial tasks, then low level competency. If they appear to know what they are doing but I am concerned about them working in any other environment other than the one they are currently in, site-specific certification, and finally, show signs of promise, not quite there yet, then a certificate, but no permit, and they will require more time on the truck, either with me or a competent operator, and 99.9999% of the time, it is with someone within the company. They do not want to spend the money to bring me back in. However, they may call and request that I review the driving again, at which point, if I feel that there is improvement, I may up their competency level, but there is a fee for my time, and paperwork.

An awkward position you find your self in.Just that in a serious accident H&S go to your company and check training records you and your company could be put in the dock.Know where your coming from though you get trained to do the job properly and on return to your work place things are different.

I don't get 3 days with my clients. All they give me is 1 day. Theory and practical. They either do it, or they don't. Sometimes they fall in between. Makes me nervous, as a trainer, at times. My sig is on the dotted line.

Agree with you there is easier but not the other way round can sometimes be harder as a counterbalance driver when learning the reach truck often forget to put the reach out.
So reach to counterbalance training.
1st day theory/videos etc + steering practice around obsticles.
2nd day further steering practice + stacking + de-stacking
3rd day further practice theory + practicle test..

sounds about right dos`nt it,just trying to cover myself.

My experience with students is that the transformation from reach truck to sit-down is easier than sit-down to reach. The steering tiller and joystick are much more difficult to learn than a steering wheel and control levers.

I do not believe that we can tag the amount of time since evryone is different. The theory is almost the same except for a few operational rules, but the driving, now thats a different story.

As I said, I cannot specify a time on this one.