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NPORS Counterbalance Forklift Training (N001)
The counterbalance forklift is the machine most people picture when they hear the word, and the one the HSE Approved Code of Practice L117 was written around. The NPORS N001 is the ticket for it. We run it in your warehouse or yard, on your own trucks, with three operators to one truck and one instructor.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N001 Counterbalance Lift Truck different
About this course
The NPORS N001 Industrial Counterbalanced Lift Truck category covers the classic forklift: a truck with the load carried out in front on forks and the weight of the machine behind the front axle to balance it. Gas, diesel and electric, three wheel and four wheel, in warehouses, factories, builders merchants, distribution centres and yards. It is the most common lift truck ticket in the country and the one most employers are asked to evidence in an audit.
A counterbalance truck is a rider operated lift truck, so operator training sits under the Approved Code of Practice L117, Rider operated lift trucks: operator training and safe use. An Approved Code of Practice carries particular weight: follow it and you are doing enough, depart from it and you have to show that what you did was at least as good. L117 splits operator training into three elements. Basic training is the skills and knowledge to operate safely. Specific job training covers the actual truck, its attachments and the place it works. Familiarisation training is applying that on the job under supervision. The employer then authorises the operator to use the truck.
This course is the basic training element plus as much of the specific job element as we can cover on your trucks in your building. What no card can do for you is familiarisation and authorisation, which stay with the employer. We say so because most operators are never told it and most managers assume the card covers the lot. The rest of the time goes on what actually causes forklift incidents: stability and the load centre, the data plate, pedestrian separation, driving with the load trailing, ramps and gradients, and the operator restraint that counterbalance trucks have had to be fitted with since 2002.
- The legal frame: the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, PUWER 1998 and the L117 Approved Code of Practice, and what authorisation by the employer means
- Stability, the stability triangle, the load centre and reading the truck's data plate
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, battery and gas handling and what a thorough examination record should show
- Manoeuvring in confined space, driving with the load trailing on a gradient and working around pedestrians
- Stacking and destacking at height in racking, including blind placement and mast deflection
- Loading and unloading vehicles, dock levellers, wheel stops and securing the vehicle before entry
- Attachments, their effect on capacity and the rating that goes with them
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N001 Industrial Counterbalanced Lift Truck category on the operator's NPORS record
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, a Blue Competent Operator card with the relevant NVQ, or a traditional NPORS card for non construction work
- Operators who can read the data plate on the truck they are stood next to and work out what it can actually lift
- A clear handover to the employer on the specific job training, familiarisation and written authorisation that L117 still expects
Who should attend?
Warehousing, distribution, manufacturing, builders merchants, food production, recycling and construction site compounds. It suits complete novices, long serving operators who have never been formally trained, agency and seasonal staff, and cardholders coming up for renewal. If the truck reaches into racking from an aisle rather than carrying the load in front of it, that is the N003 Reach Lift Truck. If it works on rough ground outside, that is the N009 Rough Terrain Lift Truck or the N010 Telescopic Handler.
Entry requirements. You should be above minimum school leaving age, which is what HSE set for lift truck operators outside ports, and most employers set eighteen. You need to be fit enough to work a shift in the seat, with eyesight and hearing adequate for the work, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, with reading support available on request. No prior card is needed for the novice route. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we can book for you. Tell us at enquiry what trucks you run, what attachments go on them and what height you stack to.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the law, stability and the data plate, then practical operation on the truck, finishing with the NPORS theory and practical test.
The law, the truck and stability
- The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 duties on employer and operator
- The L117 Approved Code of Practice: basic training, specific job training, familiarisation and authorisation
- Major components, controls, mast types and the safety devices fitted to a counterbalance truck
- The stability triangle, the load centre, the data plate and what happens as the mast is raised
- Operator restraint systems, which have been required on counterbalance trucks since 2002, and why they matter in a tip over
- Pre use checks, defect reporting, refuelling, gas bottle changes and battery charging
- Thorough examination under LOLER and inspection under PUWER, and the records that go with them
- Pedestrian segregation, workplace transport routes, ramps, dock areas and loading vehicles
Operating the truck
- Pre use inspection and reporting on the actual truck
- Starting, moving off, steering from the rear and manoeuvring in confined space
- Travelling laden and unladen, on the level and on a gradient, with the load trailing where required
- Stacking and destacking at low, medium and high level in racking
- Loading and unloading a vehicle, including checks before driving onto it
- Working around pedestrians and at blind corners
- Fitting and using attachments where they are part of the job
- Parking, shutting down, leaving the truck safe and end of shift checks
Method of assessment
How the N001 industrial counterbalanced lift truck test works
NPORS assess the category with a theory test and a practical test on the truck. Both run with us, because Acadame is an NPORS test centre as well as a training provider, and the pass goes onto the operator's record without a second booking.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators you have and what each one has already done. NPORS allow three candidates with one instructor and one truck on the training routes and four on the experienced worker test. We quote per group, because the length follows the numbers.
2. Pre course check
We confirm the route each operator needs, check any existing cards, check whether the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is needed and is in date, look at the truck and its thorough examination record, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the law, stability and the data plate, then practical operation on your truck in your own aisles and loading bay.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, truck knowledge, stability, the data plate, attachments and workplace transport safety.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, manoeuvre, stack and destack, work around pedestrians and shut down, assessed against the NPORS test specification for the category.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and the N001 category goes on the card, as a CSCS logo card for construction with a valid CITB test, or a traditional NPORS card for warehouse and industrial work.
After the course
The card is the start of the employer's job, not the end of it
L117 treats basic training as one of three parts. Once the operator holds the N001, the employer still owes them specific job training on the actual truck and the actual workplace, familiarisation under supervision on the job, and a written authorisation to operate. Most firms have none of it on paper, and it is the first thing an inspector asks for after an incident. We leave you a plain summary of what is still outstanding so it can be closed off quickly.
There is no legal interval for refresher training. HSE say there is no specific requirement to retrain after set intervals, but that even trained and experienced operators need reassessing from time to time, and the common practice of three to five years exists for that reason. Reassess sooner after an incident or near miss, a long absence from the truck, a change of truck type or a change of workplace. Where the operator works on a construction site, the CSCS logo version of the card also needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you.
- A written record of what specific job training and familiarisation still sits with the employer
- N036 FLT Supervisor Awareness for the manager who authorises and monitors operators
- N704 Manual Handling for the same warehouse team, where loads are also moved by hand
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us for the CSCS logo version of the card
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N001 Counterbalance Lift Truck FAQs
Five days for a novice on the NPORS test sheet, one day for a refresher, and one to two days for an experienced worker test. NPORS also publish a three day basic timetable for operators who have some experience but not enough to go straight to test. The right route depends on what each operator has actually done, which is why we ask before we quote.
There is no forklift licence as such, and no driving licence is needed to operate a truck on private premises. What the law requires is adequate training under PUWER 1998, and the Approved Code of Practice L117 sets out how that is done for rider operated lift trucks. The NPORS card is the recognised way of evidencing the basic training element.
No. L117 describes three elements: basic training, specific job training and familiarisation. The card covers basic training and part of specific job training. The employer still has to familiarise the operator with the actual truck and the actual workplace under supervision, and then authorise them in writing. We tell you exactly what is left to do.
HSE say lift truck operators should be over the minimum school leaving age, except in ports where they must be at least eighteen. Most employers and insurers set eighteen as their own rule. There is no upper age limit, only the general requirement to be fit for the work.
Where a restraining system is fitted it should be used. HSE note that since 2002 counterbalance trucks, rough terrain trucks and side loading trucks on one side have had to be fitted with an operator restraining system. In a tip over the restraint is what keeps the operator inside the cab, which is the only safe place to be.
There is no legal interval. HSE say there is no specific requirement to retrain after set intervals but that operators need reassessing from time to time, and three to five years is the usual practice. Reassess sooner after an incident, a long absence, a change of truck or a change of workplace. The card itself has its own expiry, which we confirm when we issue it.
Usually not. The CSCS logo version exists for construction sites and needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years. For warehouse, factory and distribution work the traditional NPORS card covers the same category to the same standard without the logo. We will issue whichever your operators actually need.
Yes, and training where the operator will actually work is the better option. We need an area we can mark out, loads and racking to work with, and a truck with a current thorough examination. There are no scheduled dates, so we fit around shifts, including evenings and weekends where that is easier for you.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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