PUWER & LOLER Inspections

LOLER (the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) apply to any lifting equipment used at work – including employees’ own lifting equipment – for lifting or lowering loads, including attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting it. However, the Regulations do not extend to fixed anchor points that form part of a building or structure.

LOLER covers a wide range of equipment, including:

• cranes
• fork-lift trucks
• lifts
• hoists
• mobile elevating work platforms
• vehicle inspection platform hoists

The Regulations also include lifting accessories, such as chains, slings, eyebolts etc. LOLER does not apply to escalators, which are covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.

LOLER applies to work equipment used for lifting operations (ie ‘operations concerned with the lifting or lowering of a load’). The Regulations also apply to the safe installation, marking and thorough examination / inspection of lifting equipment. These requirements must be met by employers, the relevant self-employed and by people who have control over work equipment. If you are self-employed and your work poses no risk to the health and safety of others, then health and safety law may not apply to you. HSE has guidance to help you understand if the law applies. The recording of examinations and inspections is also required by LOLER, and those conducting them have duties under the Regulations for reporting serious defects – both to the user and to the relevant enforcing authority.

Lifting equipment is any work equipment for lifting or lowering loads and includes its attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting it. It includes any lifting accessories that attach the load to the equipment in addition to the equipment which carries out the actual lifting function. A ‘load’ includes ‘a person’ as well as the usual material, animals or combination of these that are lifted by the lifting equipment.

You can do this as long as:

• lifting is permitted by the original manufacturer
• the machine has dedicated lifting points (with safe working load markings)
• it is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions
• has been subject to a thorough examination

Where the lifting capacity of the machine exceeds one tonne, it should be equipped with a rated capacity indicator and boom check valves.

This is a complete and thorough check of the equipment and safety-critical parts, carried out at specified intervals by a competent person and concluded with a written report. The report must include the date of the thorough examination and the date the next one is due. It should also specify any defects that are / are about to become a danger to people. Where serious defects are identified, the competent person carrying out the examination must report this verbally to the dutyholder and then provide this information in a written report. A copy of the report must also be sent to the relevant enforcing authority.

When any fork lift is used to lift or lower loads, employers and others who may be in control of the lifting operation must ensure that it is planned, supervised and carried out in a safe manner. This doesn’t mean a formal plan has to be prepared for every individual lifting operation but, where there is a significant change from standard practice, additional effort may be required to ensure lifting is carried out safely. For further guidance, see: Managing lift trucks.

LOLER requires that the lifting chains, forks, hoist mechanism (ie mast and cylinders) and fork attachments are subject to a thorough examination , either at 12-month intervals or as specified in the written scheme of examination. In addition, as required by PUWER, lift trucks should be maintained at all times for safety, with other parts (eg brakes and lights) being inspected at regular intervals, including essential daily pre-use checks.

Yes. Devices fitted to machines, such as cranes, which cut-out hoisting, derricking or trolleying motions, eg when the SWL is exceeded, should be regarded as part of the lifting equipment and be included in the thorough examination. This applies also to any radius/load indicator fitted to lifting equipment.

The main requirements are essentially that any risks to people’s health and safety arising from the use of work equipment are prevented or controlled by:

• selecting and providing the right equipment for the job
• ensuring work equipment is safely used by trained people
• inspecting and maintaining work equipment so it remains safe

These requirements must be met by employers, the relevant self-employed and by people who have control over work equipment. If you are self-employed and your work poses no risk to the health and safety of others, then health and safety law may not apply to you. HSE has guidance to help you understand if the law applies. There are also other more detailed requirements in PUWER, for example selecting equipment which meets product supply law and the guarding of dangerous parts. There are particular provisions in PUWER relating to mobile work equipment, woodworking machinery and power presses.

Work equipment is any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work, whether exclusively used at work or not. The scope of work equipment is therefore extremely wide.

As an employer, you are legally required to provide safe equipment for use in connection with your work. Where the safe of equipment depends on the installation conditions or is exposed to conditions causing deterioration liable to result in dangerous situations, you must inspect your equipment to identify whether it can be operated, adjusted and maintained safely. Doing this on a regular basis can help you detect any deterioration and take action before it results in any health and safety risk.

In a few cases – such as power presses working on cold metal (referred to in regulation 33 of PUWER) – the law requires inspection of certain aspects at prescribed intervals. Further guidance is available in: Safe use of power presses ACOP and Guidance.

Inspection frequencies depend on the type of work equipment, its use and the conditions to which it is exposed. This should be determined through:

• risk assessment, taking full account of any manufacturer’s recommendations
• the advice of others, such as trade associations and consultants
• other sources, such as published advice on health and safety

Different types of inspection include:

• quick checks before use (eg the condition of electric cables on hand-held power tools, functional testing of brakes)
• weekly checks (eg tyre pressures, presence of guarding, function of safety devices)
• more extensive examinations, undertaken every few months or longer (eg the general condition of a ladder, close examination of a safety harness, portable appliance testing).

You should do what is necessary to ensure a reasonable level of safety with any item of work equipment.