Part 17: Forklifts and telehandlers

17.1 General

[1] Forklifts with provision for a suspended load, including containers.

Attachments fitted to forks or with forks removed and a permanent lifting attachment fitted:

1. shall be designed and constructed for the purposes of suspending a load
2. shall not exceed 80% of the moment obtained from the rated load applied at the specified load centre of the forklift, not the maximum lifting capacity of the forklift, as per NZS/AS 2359.1 Powered industrial trucks – General requirements.

Note: Forklifts with a permanent attachment must be inspected and certified by an equipment inspector.

[2] Telehandlers

A telehandler is a versatile type of mobile lifting plant incorporating a telescopic boom fitted with a lifting attachment. The usual means of lifting is by forks, but telehandlers can be fitted with a variety of attachments for different load types. The range of attachments that can be used depends on the design of the particular machine and can often include a jib for lifting freely suspended loads.

Typically, telehandlers are used to travel with their load (pick and carry). When the load is supported on forks, it should be lowered as close to the ground as possible and the boom retracted during travel.

However, when the load is freely suspended, it may need to be elevated to prevent it snagging on the ground or other obstacles. This, coupled with the fact that the load can swing and exert additional dynamic forces on the machine, will adversely affect the machine’s stability. When operating on sloping ground, instability is aggravated as the load swings further out from the centre of gravity.

A telehandler designed and intended to be used as a mobile crane, to pick and carry a freely suspended load, must have a stability ratio not greater than 66% in this mode; for static lifts, the ratio is 75%. This is the maximum allowable stability ratio specified in AS 1418.5 Cranes, hoists and winches: Mobile cranes.

Many telehandlers are designed to European standard EN 1459 Safety for industrial trucks – Self-propelled variable reach trucks. This standard specifies the safety requirements for telehandlers used to lift loads rigidly supported by forks or other means. It explicitly excludes the design of machines used to lift freely suspended loads.

Owners of telehandlers and those responsible for their use should ensure they have all applicable information from the supplier of the machine, including the maximum operational slope and other limitations. They should also ensure the machines they have responsibility for have been designed to accommodate the required attachments and are suitable for the task they are to perform and the location they are intended to be used in.

Those machines that are designed to carry freely suspended loads are to be design verified and a certificate of inspection is to be issued to cover the use as a crane.

Those machines that are not designed to carry freely suspended loads (e.g. those designed to EN145 do not require design verification or a certificate of inspection. They will be treated as above as per section 17.1(1).

All other equipment that may be fitted to the telehandler is to be certified for purpose by a chartered professional engineer or as supplied as proprietary attachments recommended and supplied by manufacturers and built to a recognised standard.

---

Contents | << Previous | Next >>