High Risk Work Licence - Order-Picking Forklift (LO) common mistakes
High Risk Work Licence - Order-Picking Forklift (LO) · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Walking around the order-picking forklift during the pre-start check while leaving the mast raised or the platform at height, then starting the unit without lowering and stowing the platform first.
Candidates treat the pre-start as a quick visual lap and copy the sequence they use on a standard counterbalance truck, forgetting that an order-picker's elevated platform and mast create crush and fall zones that must be secured before any check or start-up.
What to do instead
Adopt a fixed, written pre-start sequence: lower the platform fully, key off, then inspect mast, chains, platform gate, harness anchor points and tyres in a set order. Practise the sequence aloud until it is automatic, and never key on until the platform is stowed and the area is clear.
Reading the load chart only for the rated capacity at ground level and ignoring how lift height and platform extension reduce the safe working load.
The rated capacity plate is the most visible number, so candidates anchor on it and treat it as a single limit. They have often only operated trucks where capacity is constant, and de-rating curves feel abstract until tested.
What to do instead
Work several de-rating examples from the actual chart fitted to the machine, calculating the allowable load at three different heights and extensions. Before every lift, state the height, the extension and the resulting limit out loud, then confirm the load is under it.
Climbing or stepping onto the platform, guard rails or load while the order-picker is elevated, or standing on the platform gate to reach a high pick face.
Reaching for a distant pick feels faster than repositioning the truck, and candidates underestimate how a small step changes their centre of gravity and puts them outside the fall-protection envelope.
What to do instead
Set the rule that the platform is the only work surface and reposition the machine rather than reaching. Use the harness and lanyard attached to the designated anchor whenever the platform is raised, and treat any urge to climb as a signal to lower and move.
Leaving the harness lanyard unclipped, clipped to the guard rail, or clipped to a point that is not the rated anchor while the platform is elevated.
Harness use is often taught as a general height-safety habit rather than as a machine-specific procedure, so candidates improvise attachment points or clip on only after the platform has already risen.
What to do instead
Drill the order: harness on, lanyard clipped to the marked anchor, gate closed and latched, then elevate. Have the assessor physically check the attachment before any lift, and repeat until clipping in before raising becomes the conditioned first move.
Travelling with the mast or platform raised, or failing to lower the platform to the travel position before moving off between pick faces.
Short moves between adjacent bays tempt candidates to leave the platform at height to save time, and they do not connect a raised load with reduced stability, increased head clearance risk and a higher tipping moment.
What to do instead
Apply a hard rule that travel only occurs with the platform in the stowed position and the mast lowered. Build the habit by practising a multi-bay pick route where every move requires a full lower-and-stow before the wheels turn.
Failing to check overhead obstructions, roof height, sprinkler lines, door tracks and power lines along the intended travel and lift path before elevating.
Attention is fixed on the pick face at eye level, and candidates assume the aisle is clear because they walked it at ground level without looking upward.
What to do instead
Before elevating, perform a deliberate scan from floor to ceiling along the lift and travel path, naming each overhead hazard found. Include a site walk that identifies marked height limits and exclusion zones, and repeat the scan at each new location.
Leaving the platform gate unlatched or the guard rail folded down while working at height, or lowering the rail to reach a pick.
Gate and rail checks are treated as a one-off setup step, and lowering a rail looks like a harmless way to gain reach rather than removal of a primary fall-prevention control.
What to do instead
Tie gate and rail position to the pre-lift checklist so neither elevation nor travel begins until both are confirmed secured. Where reach is genuinely insufficient, reposition the truck or use a suitable reaching aid rather than altering the guard system.
Underestimating stopping distance and tip-over risk when travelling with a load, turning at speed, or travelling with the load or platform elevated on a slope or ramp.
Candidates transfer car-driving instincts to a machine whose stability depends on load height and whose rear-end swing is large, and they do not feel the shift in the stability triangle until it is too late.
What to do instead
Practise controlled braking and turning on a marked course, then repeat with a representative load at the permitted height. Set speed limits for aisles and turns, keep loads low, and descend ramps in the correct direction for the machine with the load trailing.
Parking or shutting down with the platform raised, forks or mast left up, key left in the ignition, or the machine left on a slope without chocks or brake application.
Shutdown is treated as the end of the task rather than part of it, and candidates rush to leave once the last pick is done, forgetting that an unattended raised order-picker is a hazard to the next person.
What to do instead
Follow a fixed shutdown sequence: lower platform and mast, neutralise controls, apply the parking brake, key off and remove, then chock if on a slope. Rehearse it as a graded step so an incomplete shutdown is treated as a failed task, not a minor slip.
Reporting a fault verbally to a colleague or leaving a tag off the machine, then continuing to operate a unit with a damaged chain, worn tyre, faulty limit switch or leaking hydraulic component.
Candidates fear being blamed or slowing production, and they assume a small defect is tolerable because the machine still moves. The reporting chain and tag-out procedure are often known only vaguely.
What to do instead
Learn the site's exact fault-reporting and tag-out process, including who is notified and where the log is kept. Apply the rule that any defect affecting stability, brakes, hydraulics or fall protection means the machine is taken out of service and tagged immediately, with the fault recorded before leaving the area.