hello jason

well as i mentioned before and it does state specifically in the operators manuals about 'united states' users like in these paragraphs out of the safety rules section

All reach truck users should be familiar with their Local, Regional,
and National regulations.
United States users should be familiar with the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA), and ANSI/ITSDF B56.1. See
w w w.osha.gov web site for more information on Regulations
(Standards - 29 CFR) Powered industrial trucks - 1910.178.
You should also be familiar with areas of use of different types of lift
trucks as specified in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA
505).
Note it specifies 'United States' in there so this does give an indicator that the standards between the US and the Eastern side of the big water might be different in some ways.

Whatever standards your local, regional and national standards are i would follow to their standards no matter what we say they are here.
Discussing with your operators afterwards the ideas of what can be improved on, what they did or did not understand sounds like a great idea, and maybe by practicing that you will get a good impression of what they did or did not absorb in their training.
Now you mention about reach truck operators working with the pantograph extended, well yes according to the manual that is not the manufacturer's way they want it done (in the US editions).
Their method states:
Extend forks/attachments only to pick-up and discharge
loads.
Travel with reach mechanism/attachment fully
retracted and load adequately centered during travel.

Now if you wanted to interpret that litterally you would approach the load with forks retracted and level , once centered on the load extend the reach mechanism to straddle the pallet and then raise just off the floor enough to clear any obstacles like racking, outrigger legs etc... tilt back slightly to help stabilize the load, then retract the load back and tilt back completely to stabilize the load for traveling. When you deliver the load to it's designated location perform those same maneuvers in the reverse manner.

Now at quite a few customers i do work for that utilize reach trucks they have no choice but to have to follow those procedures because the racking is too close together for them to try and have the reach extended when picking up or delivering a load to a location. The racks are just wide enough for the lift to operate with no room to spare.
At other locations the warehouses are big enough they have plenty of spacing between racks and you could turn a semi truck around in the asile so in those applications the operator are more free to violate those rules and i have seen it happen many times.
When i was a bit younger and didn't have alot of tactfulness and i would approach these drivers and try to correct them on the spot. But i found out rather quickly they are not very receptive when you are catching them doing something wrong and trying to help. In fact they get rather defensive about it. So after i realized that approach was not working i simply just notified the shift manager what i was witnessing without pointing fingers at anyone specifically to make him aware that his drivers were not operating the lifts properly. At this point i've done my part in trying to insure a safe operation and its in the customers hands at that point which is where it should be. They are responsible for their people and how they conduct themselves on the equipment.
You can train them to the letter on how to operate the lifts safely and properly but you are right, once you leave they may do it for a while the 'right way' but once they get into doing their jobs and management starts pushing for production increases some of that surely will fall to the wayside. Your assumption would be correct on that part.

Do i drive my car to test standard now? No i dont, i don't see too many people on the road that do after they get their license's and get used to driving. I see it everyday on the road, there are some really bad drivers out there only thinking of themselves and where they are going. Me being in a company vehicle i do have to maintain more of the "correct driving standard" than if i'm in my personal vehicle though, my job depends on it and they do watch me on the gps so i do have to. :o) when in my personal car i tend to be more relaxed and ignore alot ofthings which i shouldn't. We all are guilty of it though in one way or another.
Our company rules are no smoking, no eating, no drinking, no phones of any kind, no laptops , none of this while driving.
When in my personal vehicle i do not follow those rules, i smoke, i talk on the phone, i'll eat a burger sometimes, drink a drink and may even take my eyes off the road to look at some tail walking down the street. Gee i'm so irresponsible aren't I... :oO hehe.