We received this comment in the course of the day, from an Australian Trainer and thought it would be good to add it into the forum...........The use of the hand brake when raising or lowering was of interest. Many trainers in Australia insist that the hand brake is applied in this circumstance and often incorrectly tell trainees it is a legal requirement. It is not so long as the forklift is secured from movement via the service brake and selection of neutral. The benefit of using the handbrake however is that it does ensure there is no forklift movement with the mast/load raised - one of the key reasons for the catastrophic lateral roll-over. We train all new operators to use the hand brake and explain the reasons why. However as this practice is not common in the workplace (probably zero) we allow them to move to the service brake when more experienced. I certainly never penalise licence applicants when conducting a licence assessment when they opt to use the service brake over the hand brake and nor does the assessment instrument allow me to penalise them. Sounds like similar issues your writers were discussing.