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NPORS Safe Use of Mobile Loading Ramps Training (N045)
A yard ramp turns any hard standing into a loading bay, which is why they end up parked against trailers nobody checked, on ground nobody looked at. The NPORS N045 is a one day course for the people who position them and drive over them, and it deals with the two failures that matter: the ramp moving and the vehicle leaving.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N045 Mobile Loading Ramps different
About this course
The NPORS N045 Safe Use of Mobile Loading Ramps category covers mobile yard ramps and container ramps: the wheeled or towable ramps used to drive a lift truck into a curtainsider, a box trailer or a shipping container where there is no dock. They are common in distribution, manufacturing, container handling, events and agriculture, and they are often the only piece of loading equipment on the yard that nobody has been trained on.
The equipment sits under PUWER 1998 like any other work equipment, with inspection and maintenance duties attached, and mobile ramps are manufactured to the European standard for dock and loading ramps. The load rating marked on the ramp is the one figure everything else hangs off, and the point most operators miss is that it covers the lift truck plus its load, not just the pallet. Only one truck should ever be on the ramp at a time, and where a ramp is used by pedestrians it needs handrails and a non slip surface, and pedestrians and trucks should never be on it together.
The positioning is where the real risk sits. The ramp's entry end needs to be firmly on level ground with room around it, and the exit lip has to be fully engaged into the vehicle at both sides. The ramp is then secured to the vehicle with chains at proper anchorage points, and wheel chocks used on the vehicle and the ramp to stop movement. Getting that wrong produces the two classic failures: the ramp walking away from the vehicle under load, leaving a gap, and the vehicle pulling away with a truck on the ramp. Add the hazards operators do not expect, including someone trapped between the ramp and the vehicle, crush injuries at the entry end, a ramp tipping when an unsupported trailer is not properly supported, and goods falling from the side. Then the driving itself: approach and leave the ramp straight, keep to the low speed the manufacturer sets, and never force a load while on the slope.
- The legal frame: the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and PUWER 1998, and where mobile ramps sit within workplace transport
- Ramp types, the standard they are built to, the load rating and what that rating includes
- Ground conditions at the entry end, clearance around the ramp and why level matters
- Positioning: engaging the exit lip fully at both sides and checking it before anything drives on
- Securing: chains to proper anchorage points on the vehicle, and wheel chocks on the vehicle and the ramp
- Preventing the vehicle from moving, including keys, signage, traffic management and communication with the driver
- Gradient, side rails, one truck at a time and keeping pedestrians off the ramp
- Driving on the ramp: straight approach and exit, speed limits and load control
- Pre use checks on flooring, lips, side rails, chains, hydraulics and signage, and reporting defects
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N045 Safe Use of Mobile Loading Ramps category on the candidate's NPORS record
- An NPORS card carrying the CSCS logo while a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass is in date
- Staff who set a ramp up the same way every time and check the lip before anything drives on it
- A yard where a vehicle cannot leave with a truck on the ramp because somebody has arranged it so
Who should attend?
Distribution and third party logistics, manufacturing despatch, container depots and loading operations, agricultural and horticultural yards, events and exhibition logistics, and any site that loads vehicles without a dock. It suits lift truck operators who drive over ramps, yard and loading staff who position them, and supervisors who plan the loading area. It is a ramp operations category rather than a lift truck ticket: the person driving the truck also needs the NPORS category for the truck itself, and we will tell you which one that is.
Entry requirements. You should be above minimum school leaving age and most employers set eighteen. Where the candidate will drive a lift truck on the ramp, they should already hold, or be gaining, the lift truck category for that truck. You need to be fit enough for yard work, with eyesight and hearing adequate for a loading area, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, with reading support available on request. 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. Tell us at enquiry what ramp you have, its rating, what trucks and vehicles you use it with and what the ground is like.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the law, ramp capacity and positioning, then practical siting, securing and working of the ramp with a truck, finishing with the NPORS theory and practical test.
The law, the ramp and the vehicle
- The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 duties on employer and user
- Ramp types, construction, the standard they are built to and inspection and maintenance expectations
- The load rating: what it includes and how to check the truck and load against it
- Ground conditions, levelness, clearance and the effect of a soft or falling surface
- Positioning the ramp and engaging the exit lip fully at both sides
- Securing to the vehicle: chains, anchorage points and the angle they should be set at
- Wheel chocks, vehicle immobilisation and communication with the driver
- Hazards: trapping, ramp disengagement, premature vehicle departure, ramp tipping and falling goods
- Trailer support, and why an unsupported semi trailer needs particular care
- Pedestrians, side rails, one truck at a time and speed on the ramp
Setting up and using the ramp
- Pre use inspection of the ramp: flooring, lips, side rails, chains, hydraulics and signage
- Assessing and preparing the ground at the entry end
- Manoeuvring and positioning the ramp against the vehicle
- Adjusting the height and engaging the exit lip fully at both sides
- Securing with chains to proper anchorage points and fitting wheel chocks
- Confirming with the driver that the vehicle cannot move
- Driving a laden and unladen truck on and off the ramp straight and under control
- Breaking the set up down safely, moving the ramp and storing it
- Reporting defects and taking a damaged ramp out of use
Method of assessment
How the N045 safe use of mobile loading ramps test works
NPORS assess the category with a theory test and a practical test on the ramp. Both run with us, because Acadame is an NPORS test centre as well as a training provider, and the pass goes onto the candidate's record without a second booking.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many people need it, what ramp you use and what trucks drive on it. NPORS allow four candidates to one instructor on this category. We quote per group, because the length follows the numbers.
2. Pre course check
We confirm who is attending and what lift truck categories they hold, check whether the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date for the CSCS logo version, look at the ramp and its condition, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the law, capacity and positioning, then practical siting, securing and loading using your own ramp, truck and vehicle where possible.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, ramp capacity, positioning, securing, hazards and safe working on the ramp.
5. Practical test
You inspect the ramp, position and secure it correctly, confirm the vehicle cannot move, drive on and off under control and break the set up down, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and the N045 category goes on the card. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test the card carries the CSCS logo.
After the course
Make the set up impossible to get wrong
The most effective thing a yard can do after this course is remove the discretion. A fixed position for the ramp on ground that has been assessed, a written set up sequence on a board next to it, chains and chocks kept with the ramp rather than in a container, and a rule that the driver stays out of the cab while loading is in progress. Where a semi trailer is being loaded without the unit attached, trailer supports need to be part of that sequence rather than an afterthought.
The other half is the equipment. A ramp lives outside, gets driven over by loaded trucks and is moved around with whatever is handy. PUWER expects it to be maintained and inspected, and it is worth having a scheduled check for the lips, the side rails, the chains, the wheels and the hydraulics rather than waiting for a failure. The pre use check is covered on the course and takes a couple of minutes.
- A written set up sequence kept at the ramp, with chains and chocks stored with it
- A rule preventing vehicle movement while loading is in progress, and a way of enforcing it
- A scheduled inspection for the ramp under PUWER, not just a pre use glance
- The correct NPORS lift truck category for whoever drives on the ramp
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.
N045 Mobile Loading Ramps FAQs
No. The N045 covers the ramp and the loading operation. The person driving the truck still needs the NPORS category for the truck they are driving, such as the N001 for a counterbalance truck. Plenty of firms run the two together, and we will tell you which truck category applies.
The total weight going onto it, which is the lift truck plus whatever it is carrying, not just the load. Working it out rather than assuming is one of the main points of the day, and only one truck should be on the ramp at a time regardless of the numbers.
The exit lip is fully engaged into the vehicle at both sides, then the ramp is secured with chains to proper anchorage points on the vehicle, and wheel chocks are used to stop movement. The set up is checked before anything drives on, and anyone can stop the job if the lip is not properly seated.
People trapped between the ramp and the vehicle, the ramp disengaging under load, the vehicle driving away while a truck is on the ramp, the ramp tipping where a trailer is not properly supported, and goods falling from the side. Every one of them is addressed by the set up sequence, which is why the practical spends so long on it.
One day, with a maximum of four candidates to one instructor. NPORS list no experienced worker route for this category, so an existing user attends the same one day course or the refresher. We quote per group.
Only where the ramp is designed for it, with handrails and a non slip surface, and never at the same time as a truck. In most yards the safer arrangement is to keep people off the ramp entirely and give them a separate route to the vehicle.
Yes, and it is the better option. Your ground, your vehicles, your chains and your gradient are the variables that matter, and a ramp behaves differently on a falling yard surface than on a level pad. We need the ramp, a truck and a vehicle to work against.
There should be a pre use check every time, covering flooring, lips, side rails, chains, signage and any hydraulics or leaks, plus a scheduled inspection and maintenance regime under PUWER based on how hard the ramp is worked. A manufacturer will normally recommend an annual check as a minimum.
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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