If your business uses forklifts, then you need to be aware of forklift legislation and how to comply with the rules and regulations.
As well as making sure that you stay on the right side of the law, forklift compliance means that you know you’re doing everything you can to keep your employees safe at work. Here are five pieces of key forklift rules and regulations that you need to know about.
Related read: How to Create a Culture of Health and Safety in the Workplace
When you’re working regularly with forklifts, LOLER are the forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024 that you’re likely to need to refer to most often. LOLER deals specifically with lifting equipment, including cranes, trucks and work platforms, as well as forklifts.
The regulations require that every lifting operation must be supervised and planned by a competent knowledgeable person and that all lifting equipment you use must be fit for purpose and regularly inspected and maintained.
When planning a lifting operation, LOLER requires that you (or your employees) take into account a number of safety factors, including visibility, environment, location, securing loads, and proximity hazards, among others.
As part of the key forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024, LOLER also requires that your forklifts are clearly marked with their safe working load. This allows your employees to quickly understand whether or not a load is appropriate for the forklift they’re operating.
Under LOLER (and the PUWER regulations we’ll talk about below) you must make sure that your forklifts and any accessories are inspected every year with a thorough examination for maximum forklift compliance. This is the equivalent of an MOT and is separate from your regular maintenance schedule. A thorough examination will certify that all the mechanical parts of your truck are working and safe. You’ll probably need to arrange this separately from your usual maintenance contract, but do check with your supplier as it can sometimes be included.
Forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024 includes ensuring your work equipment, machinery and tools are fully compliant. This is where PUWER comes in.
Much of what is contained in PUWER is similar to the LOLER regulations, but it is important that you and your team understand the differences and are able to exercise forklift compliance with both.
PUWER requires that you can ensure your forklifts (and any other equipment you use) meet safety standards and are used in the proper way.
This includes:
- Making sure that all equipment is suitable for the purpose for which it is being used.
- Keeping equipment in good repair, and keeping a maintenance log.
- Effectively managing people who are responsible for overseeing the work and ensuring they are adequately trained, including forklift training.
- Ensuring that all forklifts can be safely controlled with braking, that drivers have adequate vision, and that lighting is adequate.
To ensure you can easily follow the necessary forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024, there is a publication and code of practice on forklift regulation for all employers and managers working with forklifts.
The code is designed to provide you, and anyone working for you as a manager, with a simple way to meet your legal obligations exercise forklift compliance and operate safely.
Inside the guidance, available from the Health and Safety Executive and known as L117, you will find:
- The Approved Code of Practice that sets out the key things you need to do to operate safely and legally.
- The associated guidance to help you implement the code effectively.
- Information on safety considerations related to different forklift truck features.
- Guidance on how to protect pedestrians who may be near your trucks.
- Guidance on maintenance.
Related read: How TCM Reach Truck Forklifts Enhance Operator Comfort and Safety
A key aspect of the forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024 is around forklift driving. It is imperative that operators have adequate training in driving a forklift before using the trucks. Often, you can get a certification and the training will include areas like stacking, loading, operating controls.
Download now: Our Warehouse Managers Handbook - an ebook that considers compliance, health and safety, and your warehouse needs to help identify the best forklift solution for you.
There are significant penalties for driving forklifts without a licence. Operators can face potential dismissal while employers could suffer fines of up to £20,000 and are vulnerable to prosecution. Beyond this, operators driving without the proper training can cause accidents and injuries, as well as damage to equipment and reduced warehouse productivity. By ensuring your drivers have the necessary certification, maintaining up to date records and providing regular training for drivers, you can create a safer workplace and reduce disruption to operations.
Creating a culture of Health and Safety in the workplace is essential. As part of key forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024, The Health and Safety at Work Act makes wide-ranging requirements for employers in order to ensure their employees are kept safe while at work. For those working in material handling, where forklifts, other vehicles and machinery can all pose a potential hazard, it’s particularly important to understand the requirements of the Act.
The Act sets out that employers must protect the ‘health, safety and welfare’ of employees, contractors and casual workers, as well as visitors, including clients and the public, while they are on the premises. The Act provides for the issuing of regulations and codes of practice for specific industries, such as the L117 code of practice outlined above.
The Act also set up the Health and Safety Executive, a government body that supports employers in the provision of safe workplaces, but who is also responsible for enforcing the Act as part of forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024 as they relate to forklifts
Most of the requirements of the Act as they relate to forklifts are found in the L117 guidance already outlined.
It stipulates that you must:
- Have adequate staff training so that they can understand and adhere to safety procedures.
- Have a safe, well-maintained working environment.
- Provide relevant information, instruction and supervision.
If you have five or more employees, then you must also have a written health and safety policy that you have consulted with employees.
Related read: 5 Recommended Safety Features to Reduce Forklift Truck Accidents
Accidents from heights are a common cause of serious injury in the workplace and warehouses must provide the necessary Health and Safety equipment under the Working at Height Regulations to ensure compliance and operator safety. For non-integrated working platforms and cages, HSE regulations recommend that these should only be used for temporary, short-duration tasks where other methods are impractical.
To use forklift cages safely, you should follow these guidelines
Related read: The True Cost of Forklift Accidents Revealed
Finally, you should be aware of the Management of Health and Safety and Work Regulations under forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024. These are about how you assess, control and manage risk in your workplace.
The regulations stipulate that you should:
- Carry out risk assessments regularly and, if you have five or more employees, record your findings in writing.
- Have systems in place for monitoring risk and reviewing risk prevention measures.
- Make sure you have access to health and safety advice.
- Provide training on risk management for employees.
- Consult with your employees about the risks they face at work and whether the risk prevention measures you have in place are adequate.
So, let’s summarise. Here are the 5 key forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024 that you need to know to maximise safety in your warehouse:
LOLER specifically covers lifting equipment like cranes, forklifts and work platforms. It requires a set of skills and knowledge from operators, safety guidelines and regular maintenance of your fleet.
PUWER requires you to ensure forklifts meet safety standards and are fit-for-purpose, kept in good repair via a maintenance log and operators are effectively managed for safe control of forklifts.
This publication and code of practice is designed to provide all staff working with forklifts a simple way to meet legal obligations and operate safely.
The Act sets out that employers must protect the ‘health, safety and welfare’ of workers, visitors and the public on premises. It also set up the Health and Safety Executive, a government body that enforces the act and supports employers to provide safe workplaces.
These are about how you assess, control and manage risk in the workplace. They stipulate you should carry out regular risk assessments, have systems for risk monitoring and accessibility to health and safety advice, and provide risk management training for staff.
Feel free to download and save the infographic below to help you stay aware and compliant with the necessary forklift rules and regulations in the UK in 2024.
This might seem like quite a lot of legislation to deal with, but we have some resources to help you ensure full forklift compliance and the safety of your operators. If you’re new to the material handling business or are taking on a safety-focused role for the first time, download our Warehouse Manager's Handbook to explore the solution to fit your material handling needs.
Discover the best-fit for your fleet today and how to optimise health and safety in the warehouse with our Warehouse Manager's Handbook.
For more tips and information on bringing down your total ownership costs, download our complete guide to TCO now.