Four accrediting bodies have united to form an association to bring about clarification for future training and testing of all workplace transport and materials handling equipment operators.
Following a period of consultation, representatives of the four main accrediting bodies, namely AITT (an independent, non-profit making organisation, which focuses on the training of operators, instructors, tutors and examiners on all types of industrial trucks); ITSSAR (an independent, non-profit making organisation, approved and listed for the provision of training for lift truck operators, instructors and tutors); NPORS (which currently accredits over 1,000 Instructors and Training Providers across the UK who operate on both national and international projects) and RTITB ( formerly the Road Transport Industry Training Board, which has been synonymous with high quality training in the road freight and logistics industry for over 40 years) have agreed to form the Accrediting Bodies Association (ABA).
Criteria has been formulated in order to qualify as an accrediting body based on the HSE proposal, plus adherence to widely used national and international standards for certification and awarding bodies.
The main areas this agreement covers are the standards to which the training providers will have to adhere, the methods of monitoring to be applied by the relevant bodies, and the future registration of operators by the training providers.
The criteria will be the standards that each of the accrediting bodies will have to attain and adhere to, being regularly audited by an independent external auditing body. Subject to final HSE board approval, the HSE Workplace Transport Team will continue to work with the ABA in an advisory role.
The newly formed association is sure this agreement will bring clarification for future training & testing of all workplace transport and MHE operators.
It will also bring assurance to employers engaging the services of an accredited training provider that the training will be carried out to the standards prescribed in the Approved Code of Practice (L117).
