The discussions so far have been mostly across the "Pond". Here is one from someone far removed and involved with Fork Lift Trucks for over 30 years, to add another perspective.

It is interesting to note that the original question posed by Vic K was "Shouldn't the training reflect correct (procedures) and be more aligned to the real world?" way back in July 2004. The comments from Canadian & US contributors have quite correctly addressed this question and given their opinion on this. Surely, if not applying the "hand" parking brake was such a safety issue the SDCB FLT (Sit Down Counter Balanced Fork Lift Truck) would have been redesigned by now. With today's available technology it would be a simple matter to have an interlock between the Park Brake and the Lift & Tilt Levers. In the "real World" not only is it impractical to apply the Park Brake over each part of the cycle but as pointed out by other contributors, the park brake would soon become non-operative as it is not designed for such use.

In my opinion, the "inching" pedal that used to be a standard in North American built machines probably set the practice over there. This feature is now incorporated in the main brake pedal by most manufacturers. The machines are designed to be operated with this brake. So coming back to the original question, if the park brake has not been designed for the use that is suggested by the HSE authorities in the UK, does it not make sense to teach & test operators with the devices that the machines are fitted with?

The observation to be noted during the testing of operators is not just to "demonstrate visibly" of applying the Parking Brake but to observe the actual movement of the machine during the lift cycle.