Six months have passed since the Accrediting Bodies Association (ABA) restructured its operator category system with changes that reshaped how training is classified. According to accrediting body AITT, a fair number of operators and trainers remain unaware of the changes.

“We’re still hearing from businesses who believed nothing had changed for them, when it had, and quite significantly,” says Liam Knight, Managing Director of AITT. “It’s worth taking the time to actually check that all training certificates fit the new categories, rather than assume.”

A few of the key shifts:

  • Reach and straddle trucks: D3 removed and categories D1 and D2 have been merged into a single D1, removing duplication without diluting safety.
  • Counterbalance trucks: The B4 category has been merged into the B1 category.
  • Tow tractors: The old H3 category has been removed as the machines it covered rarely exist in most modern fleets, and weight restrictions have been eliminated.
  • Vertical stock pickers: A new SP1 category has been introduced recognising how this truck type has become commonplace in many workplaces.
  • Low-level order pickers: Moving from A2 to a new E0 category, better aligned with order pickers than pallet trucks.
  • Rough terrain and telehandlers: A sharper split within the J-group to only include J1, J3, J5, J7, and J8, with no height restrictions.
  • Multidirectional trucks: A new pedestrian-operated sub-category, M4, reflects evolving layouts and technologies.

Why it’s worth checking now, not waiting to find out the hard way

If your operators trained before the changes came in, that training may no longer map cleanly onto the categories now in use. This matters if it’s ever checked against current requirements, whether that’s an insurer, or a HSE visit. It’s not necessarily a problem, as many operators will still have training that’s valid for the equipment they use and will use. But it’s worth being sure.

Three questions worth asking your training provider

  • Does your accreditation certificate reference the current ABA categories, or the ones that applied before January 2026?
  • Is your provider accredited by an ABA member body and is that accreditation current?
  • If you’re not sure, has anyone actually asked the provider directly, or has it just been assumed?

“None of this needs to be complicated,” says Knight. “A five-minute conversation with an accredited provider settles it either way.”

Find out more about AITT: https://www.aitt.co.uk/

Read other recent news: https://industrial-compliance.co.uk/category/news/