| Regulation | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Regulation 4 | Lifting equipment is strong and stable enough for its use |
| Regulation 5 | Extra safeguards for equipment that lifts people |
| Regulation 6 | Positioned and installed to minimise the risk of loads falling or striking people |
| Regulation 7 | Safe working load marked; equipment not for people marked as such |
| Regulation 8 | Lifting operations planned, supervised and carried out safely |
| Regulation 9 | Thorough examination: 6 months for people and accessories, 12 months otherwise |
| Regulation 10 | Written report; serious defects reported and equipment kept out of use |
| Regulation 11 | Reports and records kept for the required periods |
What does LOLER stand for, and where does it apply?
LOLER stands for the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. They were made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and apply in England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own equivalent regulations. LOLER sits on top of PUWER, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, which covers all work equipment. Lifting equipment has to satisfy both: PUWER for the general duties such as maintenance and training, and LOLER for the duties specific to lifting.
Who has duties under LOLER?
Employers and the self-employed, for lifting equipment used at work. The duties also extend to anyone who has control, to any extent, of lifting equipment, of the people using it, or of the way it is used. That is how a landlord, managing agent or building owner comes within LOLER for a passenger lift in the common parts of a building: people at work use it, such as cleaners, porters and contractors, and the landlord controls it, even though most of the people riding in it are not their employees. Where several people have some control, each carries the duty to the extent of that control, so it is worth agreeing in writing who arranges the examinations.
What counts as lifting equipment?
Work equipment for lifting or lowering loads, including its attachments for anchoring, fixing or supporting it. That covers passenger and goods lifts, platform lifts, stairlifts, dumbwaiters, cranes, hoists, patient hoists, forklifts, telehandlers, MEWPs, BMUs, vehicle lifts and tail lifts. It also covers lifting accessories, the items between the load and the machine: slings, chains, shackles, eyebolts, hooks, spreader beams, magnets and clamps. A person is a load, which is why rope access equipment and rescue systems come within it. Equipment does not fall under LOLER just because it could lift: it has to be work equipment, so a stairlift in a private home used only by the family is usually outside it, and HSE's guidance is that escalators and moving walkways are outside it too, even though they carry people between levels: they come under the Workplace Regulations and PUWER instead.
What does LOLER actually require?
The regulations are short. Regulation 4 requires lifting equipment to be strong and stable enough for its use. Regulation 5 adds safeguards for equipment that lifts people, against crushing, trapping, falling and being stranded. Regulation 6 covers positioning and installation, keeping the risk of equipment or loads striking people, or of loads drifting, falling or being released, as low as reasonably practicable. Regulation 7 requires the safe working load to be marked, and equipment not designed for people to be marked as such. Regulation 8 requires every lifting operation to be planned by a competent person, supervised and carried out safely. Regulation 9 sets the thorough examination and inspection duty, Regulation 10 the report and what happens when a defect is found, and Regulation 11 how long the records must be kept.
How often must lifting equipment be thoroughly examined?
Before it is first used, unless it is new and supplied with a declaration of conformity made within the last twelve months, or it has come from another business with evidence of its last thorough examination. After installation and before first use where its safety does depend on installation, and again each time it is assembled at a new site. Then periodically: at least every six months for equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, and at least every twelve months for all other lifting equipment, unless a competent person has drawn up a written scheme of examination that sets different intervals. And after any exceptional circumstance, such as damage, overload or a modification, that could affect its safety. These are maximum intervals, not targets, and there is no grace period.
Who can carry out a thorough examination?
A competent person: someone with the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the type of equipment to detect defects and judge how serious they are. HSE's code of practice and guidance on LOLER (L113) add that the competent person should be sufficiently independent and impartial to make objective decisions. That does not have to mean an outside company, but it does mean the examiner should not be judging their own maintenance work, or be in a position to profit from the repairs they recommend.
What must the report say?
LOLER Schedule 1 sets out what a Report of Thorough Examination must contain. In summary: who the duty-holder is and where the equipment is; enough detail to identify the equipment; the date of the last examination; its safe working load; whether this is a first examination, a periodic one or one after exceptional circumstances; any defect that is or could become a danger, with the repair needed and by when; the date of the next examination; and the name, qualifications and signature of the person who made the report. LOLER calls it a report, never a certificate. A report that only says pass or fail does not meet it.
What happens if a serious defect is found?
The competent person must tell the duty-holder straight away, followed by the written report. Where the defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, a copy of the report must also go to the relevant enforcing authority: HSE or the local authority, depending on the premises. The duty-holder must then make sure the equipment is not used until the defect is put right, or after any date the report sets for a less urgent repair.
How long must LOLER records be kept?
Reports of periodic examinations must be kept until the next report is made, or for two years, whichever is later. Reports for lifting accessories must be kept for at least two years. Reports made before first use of equipment other than accessories, and declarations of conformity, must be kept for as long as the equipment is in use. Reports made after installation must be kept for as long as the equipment is used at that place. Keeping them longer than the minimum is usually worth it, because they show the equipment's history.
What happens if you do not comply?
Breaching LOLER is a criminal offence. An inspector can serve an improvement notice, or a prohibition notice that stops the equipment being used, and serious cases are prosecuted, with unlimited fines available to the courts. Separately, many insurance policies require statutory examinations to be current, and an insurer may question a claim involving equipment without one. In practice, equipment with no current examination should be taken out of use until it has been examined.
Sources & Further Reading
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