Fraudulent Forklift Certificates

There are some fraudulent Phoenix Training certificates ‘doing the rounds’. This was brought to my attention last week as a company rang to verify a couple of our certificates as they had a feeling there wasn’t something quite right with them.

The instructor name and details on the certificates were of an instructor who left Phoenix in 2006 but the certificates were dated 2014.

Once saw the certificates I knew that they had been tampered with as some parts (other than signatures) had been handwritten. Upon further investigation the original certificate had been issued in 1998 and the date had been Tippexed out and handwritten as 2014. The candidate had handed over a photocopy rather than the original so this was not obvious to the person receiving it.

I was also sent another certificate yesterday. On first appearance it looked quite convincing but several things didn’t quite fit. Firstly the date on the certificate was 2013 but our address was the one we had left in 2010. The instructor and authoriser signatures were not genuine—in fact they looked nothing like the originals. The instructor and authoriser of the certificate, had by 2013, both passed away. When I checked our records the certificate number was correct, the person it had been issued to was also correct but they had altered the date from June 2007 to June 2013.

All of the fraudulent certificates that I have seen over the past week (two for one person and one for another) were all in the old style of our certification. The final old style certificate was issued on 23rd June 2011. From 24th June 2011 the new style which includes the candidate photograph have been issued, please see examples below.

If you have any concerns about a certificate issued by Phoenix Training please do ask us to verify it is genuine and correct. I would much rather verify 20 certificates a day than let a potentially unsafe operator use a truck.

We can be contacted on 01933 677708 or email info@phoenixsafetyservices.co.uk

Until next time…….

 

Fork Lift Certificates Expiry Dates and Refresher Training

A topic I am frequently asked to give advice on is the expiry dates on fork lift certificates and frequency of refresher training.

The training that we deliver is to ITSSAR accredited standards and, as such, we must follow the guidance as laid out in the Health and Safety Executive Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) Rider-Operated Lift Trucks (L117).

As a training organisation we are not permitted to put expiry dates on our certification as fork lift certificates do not expire. If certificates have been issued by an NPORS or RTITB accredited training organisation the expiry date on the certificates relates to the operators registration with that particular organisation not the expiry of the certification.

The HSE state in the ACoP that there is no legal requirement to issue certificates but certificates do provide evidence that operators have received relevant training and achieved an appropriate level of operating ability.

Refresher training is an excellent way to ensure operators maintain good driving habits and it is an opportunity to have their abilities reassessed. Refreshers may also be appropriate for operators who do not use the truck(s) on a regular basis, who have developed unsafe working practices or have had an accident or near-miss.

The ACoP also states:

“There is no specific time period after which you need to provide refresher training or formal assessment. However, you may decide that automatic refresher training or a retest after a set period (for example 3-5 years) is the best way to make sure employees remain competent. Where you adopt this approach, you will still need to monitor performance, in case operators need extra training before the set period ends.”

More often than not your own risk assessments and company policy will determine the time between refresher training.

A copy of the Approved Code of Practice can be purchased from the HSE book store for £15 or you can download it for free from http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l117.htm

If you have any questions please feel free to call me on 01933 677708 or email me at info@phoenixsafetyservices.co.uk

Until next time……….

Emma

 

 

 

 

Fork Lift Truck Certificates

Have you ever been presented with a fork lift certificate (licence) and just accepted it at face value? In all honesty most people do.

Do you know what to look for?

Did you know that if the certificate was issued by an accredited training organisation there are certain things that should be included on the certificate itself? This rule applies regardless of which accrediting body it is.

The four members of the Accrediting Bodies Association (Workplace Transport) now all operate their own registration schemes and candidates who have received training from an accredited training organisation should be registered with the appropriate accrediting body. This has been the case since at least 1st January 2015.

The four members of the ABA are:

• RTITB
• The Independent Training Standards Scheme & Register (ITSSAR)
• Association of Industrial Truck Trainers (AITT)
• National Plant Operators Registration Scheme (NPORS)

This is all verifiable so that you can be sure the training the candidate has received has met the nationally recognised standards and within the correct timeframes.

If you are unsure of whether a fork lift certificate is genuine or the training provided is accredited why not give us a call on 01933 677708 and we will be able to help.

Until next time……