Guide
Forklift licence UK: there isn't one, and HSE says so
Updated
If a training provider sells you a forklift licence, they are selling you something that does not exist. Here is the real requirement, and the paperwork that does matter.
What HSE actually says
From HSE's own factsheet on lift-truck training accreditation: Note that there is no legal requirement for certificates, which are often confused with licences, but ATPs will always issue them and HSE encourages their use as a good way of demonstrating that training has been provided. There is no such thing as a lift-truck licence.
(HSE). The same sentence appears in HSE's employer leaflet INDG462.
What the law does require
Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998: Every employer shall ensure that all persons who use work equipment have received adequate training for purposes of health and safety, including training in the methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be taken.
The same duty applies to anyone who supervises or manages that use. If you are self-employed you have to reach the same standard yourself.
That is the whole legal test: adequate. The Approved Code of Practice L117, Rider-operated lift trucks: operator training and safe use, describes what HSE considers adequate, which is why every credible course is built around it (HSE).
Who accredits forklift training
HSE no longer administers an accrediting bodies scheme, and accreditation is voluntary. It says using an accredited training provider provides some assurance that the training provided will be at least to the standard described in the ACOP and guidance
. HSE points employers to the Accrediting Bodies Association for Workplace Transport (ABA), whose member committee is drawn from RTITB, NPORS, AITT, ITSSAR and Lantra (abawt.co.uk, read 15 August 2026). None of them issues a licence, because there is no licence to issue: they accredit the provider and the instructor, and register the operator.
What to ask for instead of a licence
- A certificate that names the accrediting body, the accreditation number and the instructor's registration number. HSE says certificates should let training be traced back to course content.
- Any limitation on the certificate. If training was limited, for example lifting only to 3 metres, HSE says the certificate should say so, so operators only do what they were trained for.
- Instructor evidence: a valid instructor certificate, public liability insurance at least, and proof they can train on the vehicles concerned.
- Written authorisation from you, the employer, after all three training stages. That is the document that says this person may drive this truck here.
Who you can train
HSE's guidance for employers says potential operators should be reasonably fit physically and mentally, reliable, and over the minimum school-leaving age of 16, except in ports where they must be at least 18 unless undergoing a properly supervised course of training. Children under 16 should never operate lift trucks. Physical capability is assessed individually, and the Equality Act 2010 is likely to apply, so reasonable adjustments may be needed.
Non-employees count too. HSE notes that visiting lorry drivers and service engineers increasingly operate site trucks, and that employers and site controllers should co-operate so only adequately trained people do so, with familiarity appropriate to the machine and the site.