If someone is hurt on or near a telescopic handler, the first questions are who trained the operator on that machine and where the proof is. PHW assesses your operator on your own machine, on your own site, and gives you the records to show an inspector or a site manager. For small contractors and groundworks crews, farms, plant hire yards, and goods in and goods out sites.
Fixed-boom telescopic handlers up to 12m and 3.5 tonnes, on farms, in yards and on small sites.
The assessor watches your operator work your machine on your site: the pre-use checks, driving and manoeuvring, picking up, carrying and placing loads, loading and unloading lorries and containers, the end-of-shift checks, and getting the machine onto and off a lorry. Theory is tested separately.
Tell us the machine, the number of operators and the site. PHW agrees machines, operators and dates with you before anyone travels, then comes to your site and assesses each operator on the machine they use. Results are recorded as they happen, and the certificates, site evidence statement and live verification page follow once the assessment is complete.
As the employer you must make sure every telescopic handler operator is trained and competent on the machine, and be able to show it. In Great Britain the duty to train sits with the employer, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 section 2(2)(c) and regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), which requires adequate training for everyone who uses work equipment. PUWER also applies to a self-employed person for the machine they use at work, and to whoever controls the machine or how it is used (regulation 3).
The Approved Code of Practice L117, Rider-operated lift trucks, sets out a three-stage training model: basic training, specific job training and familiarisation with the particular machine and site. Its guidance covers variable reach trucks such as telescopic handlers, and HSE says the same standard of training can be used for every type of lift truck.
The government does not issue operator licences for this machine, so the proof is the training and assessment records you hold.
Principal contractors and clients can set their own entry requirements for operators, so check with the site before you book. The certificate, the live verification page and the site evidence statement are what you show them.
A telescopic handler is lifting equipment, so the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) apply to it: every lift must be planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely (regulation 8), and the machine must be thoroughly examined at least every 12 months, or at least every 6 months where it is used to lift people, or in line with an examination scheme (regulation 9).
Once an operator has completed basic, specific job and familiarisation training, HSE guidance in L117 says the employer should give them written authorisation to operate the telescopic handlers they have been trained to use, stating the operator, the date, the type of machine and any special conditions. The certificate, theory and practical records and site evidence statement are the evidence the employer relies on when making that decision.
Up to four of your people assessed for competence in one day, on your own site and machines, with minimum downtime. Plus a written safe-system pack for each topic. PHW has certificated thousands of candidates nationwide, for multinationals and small firms alike. Tell us the site postcode, how many operators and which machine, and we will come back with a quote and dates.
HSE prosecutions in this line of work.
Nominal fine of £800 (individual sentenced to suspended imprisonment) + £2,000 costs · 2026-08-11
A telehandler operator reversed over a lift supervisor walking back from the site welfare compound, causing fatal injuries.
Read the case →£24,000 + £4,777 costs · 2026-03-11
A telehandler reversed into a worker sorting waste, crushing him against a wall and causing multiple fractures and permanent loss of sight in one eye.
Read the case →£2,000 + £5,700 costs · 2025-10-03
A contractor's hand was crushed beneath telehandler forks while assisting with a boat lift, resulting in the amputation of a finger.
Read the case →