Counterbalanced Lift Truck over 15 Tons

Why the heavy class is a separate ticket

Counterbalanced lift trucks are certified by machine class, not by the words on the badge. The standard course certifies an operator on a counterbalanced lift truck. This one certifies an operator on a counterbalanced lift truck in excess of 15 tons, and it is a different certificate.

That matters on two fronts. An operator who has only the standard ticket is not certified on your heavy machine, however many years they have been driving the smaller one. And an auditor or a client checking certificates against the plant list on your site will read the class on the certificate, not the experience on the CV.

The handling is genuinely different as well — load behaviour, stopping distances, mast height, visibility and the ground conditions the machine needs. None of that transfers automatically from a three-ton machine.

Which of the two courses do you need?

Both run five days at the same fee. The decision is simply which machine the operator will be put on when they get back to site. If your yard runs both, you need both tickets covered, and it is worth checking the plant list against the certificates on file before an audit rather than after one.

Both courses are compared on the forklift courses page.

Fees, refresher and the certificate

The refresher is the cheaper route for an operator who already holds the ticket and is coming up for renewal. It is not a route in for someone who has never been certified on the class — that is the full course.

Fees on this site include VAT. A certificate is issued on completion and can be downloaded, and employers with a company account can view and verify their operators’ certificates online. Every fee is on the course fees page.

Where and how the training runs

Individuals train at the Fundza Training Institute centre at 11 Van Riebeeck Street, Mokopane, Limpopo. We do not provide accommodation.

For a heavy machine, on-site training is often the better option: companies can book a group and we train on your own premises anywhere in South Africa, on the machine your operators will actually run. Group size and travel are quoted per booking. See on-site training.

What the law expects of the employer

Sections 8 and 13 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 require an employer to provide a safe system of work and to give employees the information, instruction, training and supervision they need to do the work safely. Putting an operator on a machine class they are not certified on is the clearest way to fall short of both.

On a mine the equivalent duty sits in section 10 of the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, which also requires training before a change in occupation — moving an operator onto a different machine is exactly that.

Related courses

• Forklift training — the standard counterbalanced lift truck.
• Telescopic boom handler — where the lift is reach rather than mass.
• Crane operator training — where the load is lifted rather than carried.
• Sling and communicate — for the people rigging the load.

Common questions