Last week we were training on the counterbalance truck at a garden centre near Oxford, as well as at our training centre near Banbury.

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is famous the world over for its University and place in history. For over 800 years, it has been a home to royalty and scholars, and since the 9th century an established town, although people are known to have lived in the area for thousands of years. Nowadays, the city is a bustling cosmopolitan town. Still with its ancient University, but home also to a growing hi-tech community. Many businesses are located in and around the town, whether on one of the Science and Business Parks or within one of a number of residential areas.

Go to www.visitoxford.org for detailed and up to date information on the different attractions in Oxford.  It will also help you learn more about Oxford’s
history, art and culture scene.

Recently we were providing reach truck training on customer premises at Silverstone Park.  Situated on the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire border, Silverstone Park provides a global destination for innovation, business development and engineering.

Silverstone circuit can offer additional support to businesses through its experienced event planning and management team, exceptional hospitality facilities, R&D facilities and track testing.

Silverstone Park has grown into an innovative science and technology park, thanks to Hexagon Metrology Centre (the UK’s only dedicated sub-contract inspection metrology facility), which provides businesses with access to cutting-edge technology. This, along with the park’s Metrology Network, offers an essential resource and knowledge sharing opportunity, with regular events, technology information days and prestigious guest speakers scheduled throughout the year.

The Park has also been established as a place of inspiration for local schools. It is committed to raising the profile of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) subjects by working closely with local pupils to highlight the exciting learning, training and career opportunities that exist within the sector via an on-going programme of events and clubs.

This week, a couple of our instructors have been training on customer premises in Eastbourne on the counterbalance and combi lift trucks.  Thanks to James for the photos, he managed to enjoy some of the sights of Eastbourne after training.

Eastbourne is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex.  The seafront consists largely of Victorian hotels, a pier, a state of the art theatre, a contemporary art gallery and a Napoleonic era fort and military museum. The town was developed at the direction of the Duke of Devonshire from 1859 from four separate hamlets. It boasts a newly-modernised town centre, consisting of a large shopping centre, ‘The Beacon’, and an extensive High Street.

With a population of more than 100,000 people, Eastbourne has been a fast-growing town in the past few years.  Development around the Sovereign Harbour, Britain’s largest composite marina, has created more than 3,000 new homes and an innovation centre for small businesses.

Other training courses this week are taking place at our training centre, near Banbury and also at Silverstone Park in Northamptonshire.

Yesterday, James, one of our instructors, was out in the sunshine training on this telescopic truck in Buckinghamshire.  Although, we do not have a telescopic truck at our training centre, we can still provide training on customer’s sites.

Telescopic handlers can be used on all types of terrains, making them extremely useful on construction sites or farms, where the ground is often rough and uneven.

In the construction sector, telescopic handlers are invaluable and are used for a wide range of jobs. They can be used to lift construction materials such as concrete blocks/mortar, etc onto scaffolding.  With the bucket attachment fitted they can also move large loads of sand, soil and aggregates.

Telescopic handlers are frequently used within agriculture because they can easily be manoeuvred around farms and can be used for a number of tasks, both outdoors and indoors. With their variable 4 way steering, telescopic handlers can manoeuvre within small spaces, meaning they can be used inside a barn and can travel up and down livestock rows with ease. They are great for moving hay bales and handling heavy bucketloads.

In the industrial sector, telescopic handlers are most frequently used to quickly and easily shift cargo and heavy goods from one place to another.

We provide RTITB accredited telescopic training and we can also supply an RTITB photo ID card (as well as certification) if required. Please call us on 0800 024 8084 for further information on telescopic training.

There is so much confusion when it comes to using forklift trucks on ramps/inclines, try this RTITB quiz (click on link below) to see if you know the correct procedure, both with or without a load.  You will need to think about stability, traction, braking and load security.

https://www.rtitb.com/download/test-your-knowledge-counterbalance-lift-trucks-inclines/

If you have not yet completed your training, this is covered in our novice and refresher courses.

According to HSE “Working platforms or ‘cages’ on lift trucks are ‘non-integrated’, ie the lift-truck operator controls the movement of the truck including the cage. There are no controls in the cage to control the truck or cage movement.

The use of non-integrated platforms for planned work is not allowed as there is other purpose-built access equipment, such as the wide variety of mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), which are better suited to carrying out work at heights and are safer for the person using the platform. These are readily available for hire.

HSE Guidance Note PM28 ‘Working platforms (non-integrated) on forklift trucks ‘ gives advice on the use of these and clarifies what the law says. It sets out the current standard for use of non-integrated platforms, ie for ‘occasional unplanned use’ only.

PM28 also gives guidance on what ‘occasional unplanned use’ means. It clearly states that non-integrated platforms should only be used for work which is ‘exceptional’. Exceptional work would include unplanned work such as the changing of a single lightbulb as an emergency job. This definition does not include stocktaking or planned maintenance work such as cleaning the light fittings in a factory, window cleaning etc. For jobs like that a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) with integral controls, such as a scissor lift, should be used.”

We can provide training on Mobile Elevating Work Platforms.  Contact us at Stackers Training on 0800 024 8084 for more information or e-mail anne@stackerstraining.co.uk

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have confirmed that urgent and essential lift truck operator training can continue during the current national lockdown.

Stackers Training will continue to supply training throughout the lockdown on customer premises, where permitted, and also at our training centre.  We will continue to follow the coronavirus procedures we have put in place to ensure everyone is as safe as possible.

We can supply training on a one to one basis, if required, and we can also train during weekends or evenings.  If you would like more information on current courses and training durations please call us on 0800 024 8084 or e-mail anne@stackerstraining.co.uk

Last week, we carried out some pedestrian stacker training in Hartlepool, County Durham as well as novice and refresher training at our training centre and training on the pivot steer truck in Banbury.

Hartlepool is on the North Sea coast, 17 miles north of Middlesborough and 20 miles south of Sunderland.

Hartlepool is full of award winning attractions such as the Hartlepool Historic Quay, the HMS Trincomalee and the Museum of Hartlepool.

Hartlepool Marina’s centrepiece is the award-winning historic quay – a faithful reproduction of an 18th century seaport portraying the exciting experience of what life was like at the time of Nelson and Trafalgar.

Hartlepool Marina is one of the most modern Marina facilities in Europe. Featuring one of Europe’s biggest boat hoists and attracting hundreds of vessels, the £60 million Marina is Hartlepool’s most alluring and relaxing location.

Unfortunately the cold, drizzly weather last week wasn’t the best time to see the marina but James Marshall, our instructor, managed to get a couple of photos.  Hopefully we’ll be visiting again for future training.

For those who haven’t yet visited our training centre at Apollo Park, Wroxton, near Banbury, we’ve put together this slideshow to show you where we are and what facilities we can offer.

We can train on weekends and evenings, as well as weekdays to suit your requirements.  Give us a call on 0800 024 8084 or e-mail anne@stackerstraining.co.uk

In a recent blog article we talked about how, under normal circumstances, the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA) would be bringing us the National Forklift Safety Convention at this time of year.  As that hasn’t been possible this year, they have been running an extended campaign over the last few weeks — Safety Drive.

RTITB have supported the #FLTASafetyDrive campaign – with a view to increase awareness and reduce the risk of incidents within busy operations.

For more information on how the RTITB have supported the campaign, visit their blog article https://www.rtitb.com/why-were-supporting-the-fltasafetydrive/

Remember there is still time to access the FLTA’s popular forklift safety posters, free to members of the public until 30^th November.  For more information click here https://fork-truck.org.uk/fork-lift-safety/safety-month/safety-posters