Hi,

As someone who has worked for both organisations, I can only say that the differences between the two are in culture, rather than content.
RTITB arose out of the statutory industry training boards and was the secretariat for the Joint ITB Committee on lift truck operator training. as a result, RTITB printed and published the first Trainer's Guide.
Later, when most ITBs had been disbanded, RTITB continued to develop accredited training systems.
Many trainers became dissatisfied with the approach made by RTITB and set up their own group, The Association of Industrial Truck Trainers (AITT). They determined that accreditation and monitoring of standards should be done independently. the British Industrial Truck Association agreed to set up ITSSAR and house it in their office.
The basic difference was in the training of instructors. RTITB had a formal examination at the end of a training course on a pass or fail basis, which included an associated knowledge test and the presentation of a 30 minute practical lesson.
On the other hand, AITT and ITSSAR elected to have a continuous assessment process which could cover associated knowledge and the abilities to conduct a theory lesson, give a practical demonstration, conduct a practical lesson, set up and conduct a practical skills test, and write an end of training report.
Ultimately, the training of operators should have remained the same.
Over the course of the last few years, RTITB went along the route of operator registration which ITSSAR chose not to follow at the time.
As the original designer of the RTITB registration scheme (NORS), I realised that simply registering operators who had been trained by an accredited organisation was more complex than simply printing certificates and maintaining a operator database. Links into accredited organisations' training programmes, their instructor registrations and abilities, minimum durations of training, the ability to adapt for less inclusion for particular situations grew into a very complex and secure system, made more secure by allowing accredited organisations to enter registrations on line.
Now, both organisations, as well as AITT are recognised in the UK and elsewhere, but the fundamental difference is still in the manner of training and examining / assessing instructors.