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NPORS Telescopic Handler Suspended Loads Training (N138)
The moment a load hangs freely from a hook or a chain, the telehandler stops being a lift truck and becomes lifting equipment, with LOLER, a different load chart and a lift plan attached. The N138 is the NPORS category for that work. It is a bolt on to the telehandler category rather than a card in its own right, and the operator needs the N010 first.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N138 Telescopic Handler Suspended Loads different
About this course
The NPORS N138 Telescopic Handler Suspended Loads category covers lifting and travelling with a load hanging freely from the machine: on a fork mounted hook, a jib or a carriage mounted lifting point. Steel, trusses, drainage, bagged material, plant and anything else that goes on chains or slings rather than on the forks. It is a bolt on to the telehandler category rather than a card in its own right, so the operator holds the N010 first and the N138 is added to the same NPORS record.
The reason it exists is legal as much as practical. Once the load is suspended, the telehandler is lifting equipment carrying out a lifting operation and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 apply. That means the lifting attachment has to be a properly designed, tested and thoroughly examined fitting rather than a sling thrown over the fork carriage. It means a lift plan drawn up by a competent person. It means thorough examination on the LOLER cycle for the machine and for the accessories. And it means a load chart specific to suspended load work, because the standard chart is not valid: the load centre is different and a side slope affects a swinging load in a way it does not affect a pack of blocks.
The two days go on all of that plus the actual skill. Estimating the weight of the load, selecting and inspecting chains and slings, understanding sling angles, keeping the boom retracted and the load low, travelling at walking pace, controlling swing with delicate inputs rather than correction, working with a slinger who has agreed signals, and knowing that nobody walks in front of the machine to steady a swinging load. Industry guidance is direct on that last point, because it is how people get killed.
- When a telehandler becomes lifting equipment under LOLER 1998, and what changes the moment the load leaves the forks
- Approved lifting attachments: fork mounted hooks, jibs and carriage mounted lifting points, and why a sling over the carriage is not one
- Finding and reading the suspended load chart, and why the standard chart does not apply
- Thorough examination for the machine and for lifting accessories, and the records that go with them
- Planning: the lift plan, the competent person who writes it, exclusion zones and who may be inside them
- Weight estimation, accessory selection, sling angles and inspection of chains, slings and shackles
- Lifting, travelling and placing a suspended load under control, including swing control and travelling low and retracted
- Working with a slinger signaller, agreed signals and the rule that nobody steadies a swinging load by hand in front of the machine
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N138 Telescopic Handler Suspended Loads category added to the operator's existing NPORS record
- The category sitting on the same card as the N010, carrying the CSCS logo while a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass is in date
- Operators who can tell whether the machine and the attachment in front of them are actually allowed to lift
- Lifts that run to a plan with a trained slinger and agreed signals instead of a chain and a fork
Who should attend?
Groundworks, civils, steel erection, drainage, housebuilding and plant hire: anywhere a telehandler is already on site and something needs to be lifted on chains rather than carried on forks. It is aimed at operators who already hold the NPORS N010 Telescopic Handler. An operator with no telehandler category at all needs the longer standalone novice route, which NPORS also publish, and we will tell you which applies. Slinging and signalling is a separate category, the N402, and the two jobs cannot be done by the same person at the same moment.
Entry requirements. You should already hold the NPORS N010 Telescopic Handler category, or be doing the two together, because this is a bolt on rather than a standalone ticket. You need to be above minimum school leaving age, and most employers and sites set eighteen, fit enough for site work, with eyesight good enough to judge a load and its landing area, and able to follow spoken and written English for the theory test and the chart, with support available on request. For the CSCS logo version of the card 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 attachment you lift with, whether it is marked with a rated capacity, whether a suspended load chart exists for the machine and when the machine and the accessories were last thoroughly examined.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on LOLER, the lifting attachment, the suspended load chart and the lift plan, then practical lifting and travelling with a freely suspended load, finishing with the NPORS theory and practical test.
Lifting duties, the law and the chart
- LOLER 1998 and PUWER 1998 as they apply to a telehandler lifting a suspended load
- Industry guidance on lifting and travelling with suspended loads using telehandlers
- Approved lifting attachments and marked rated capacities, and what is not acceptable
- The suspended load chart, load centres, boom extension, boom angle and the effect of a side slope
- Thorough examination of the machine and of chains, slings and shackles, and the records
- The lift plan, who is competent to write it, method statements and exclusion zones
- Weight estimation, centre of gravity, sling angles and accessory selection
- Slinger signaller duties, agreed hand signals and communication on a noisy site
Lifting with the machine
- Pre use checks aimed at the lifting attachment and accessories as well as the machine
- Confirming the weight, the radius and the capacity available before the lift
- Attaching and detaching loads with the slinger, and keeping people out of the danger area
- Taking the load, controlling swing and travelling low, retracted and at walking pace
- Working on a gradient and on made up ground with a suspended load
- Placing loads accurately, including into an excavation and onto a structure
- Emergency and instability situations, and what the operator does when a load starts to swing
- Shutting down, securing accessories and reporting anything found during the lift
Method of assessment
How the N138 telescopic handler suspended loads test works
NPORS assess the category with a theory test and a practical test of suspended load work on the machine. Both run with us, because Acadame is an NPORS test centre as well as a training provider, and the category is added to the operator's existing record.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us who already holds the N010 and what hook work you actually do. Four candidates are allowed with one instructor and one machine on the bolt on route, six on the experienced worker test. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We check existing cards, confirm the machine has an approved lifting attachment marked with its rated capacity and a suspended load chart, check the thorough examination records for the machine and the accessories, check whether the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on LOLER, the attachment, the chart and the lift plan, then practical lifting on the machine with a slinger working properly alongside.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering lifting legislation, attachments, the suspended load chart, planning, exclusion zones and signals.
5. Practical test
You carry out lifting related pre use checks, work within the chart, take, travel and place a freely suspended load under control with a slinger, and shut down, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and the N138 category is added to the operator's card alongside the telehandler category. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test that card carries the CSCS logo.
After the course
A suspended lift is never a one person job
Every lift on a hook involves at least two people, because somebody has to attach the load. That person needs the N402 Slinger Signaller: accessory selection, sling angles, estimating the weight and giving signals the operator can actually see from the cab. Running the two together for the same group is the quickest way to stop the habit of the banksman being whoever happens to be standing there.
Somebody also has to plan the work. Under LOLER a lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner, and for anything beyond a routine repeated lift that means an appointed person and a written lift plan. On the card, the NPORS category is the qualification and the CSCS logo is separate: the logo version needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you.
- N402 Slinger Signaller for the person attaching the load and giving the signals
- N401 Appointed Person where lifts need planning rather than repeating
- N010 Telescopic Handler where an operator does not yet hold the base category
- 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.
N138 Telescopic Handler Suspended Loads FAQs
No. It is a bolt on to the telehandler category. The operator holds the N010 Telescopic Handler and the N138 is added to the same NPORS record and the same card. If an operator has no telehandler category at all, NPORS publish a longer standalone novice route instead, and we will tell you which one you need.
Because a suspended load changes the job in law and in practice. Industry guidance states that basic telehandler operator training does not include lifting or travelling with suspended loads. Once the load hangs free, the machine is lifting equipment carrying out a lifting operation under LOLER 1998, with a lift plan, thorough examination of the accessories and a different load chart.
No. Guidance is explicit that only a properly designed, tested, thoroughly examined and fitted attachment should be used to carry a suspended load, which means a fork mounted hook, a jib or a carriage mounted lifting point marked with its rated capacity. A sling draped over the fork carriage is not an acceptable lifting point.
No, and this catches people out. The standard chart is not valid for suspended loads because the load centre is different and a side slope affects a hanging load differently. The machine needs a chart for the suspended load configuration, and part of the course is finding it and reading it for the machine you actually run.
Only where the plan allows it and only within tight limits: load kept low, typically 300 to 500mm above the ground, boom extension kept to a minimum, walking pace, smooth inputs to avoid setting up a swing, and no working on a slope beyond the manufacturer's limit. Nobody walks in front of the machine to steady a swinging load by hand.
Every lifting operation has to be planned. How much of it is written down depends on the lift. Routine repeated lifts can be covered by a generic plan, while anything unusual or complex needs its own, and deciding which is which is a competent person's job. That is the appointed person role, which the N401 covers.
Yes, unless the load can be attached and detached without anyone going near it, which is rare. The person attaching the load needs the N402 Slinger Signaller. One person cannot be in the cab and under the load at the same time, and the slinger needs to be trained and authorised for the work.
Two days where it is added to an existing telehandler card, with four candidates on one machine. An operator already doing hook work can sit the shorter experienced worker test, which allows six. There are no scheduled dates: we run it on your machine when the operators and the machine can be released, and we quote per group.
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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