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Integrity Lift Compliance
Knowledge Base

What Needs a LOLER Inspection? Equipment from A to Z

LOLER covers work equipment for lifting or lowering loads, and the accessories used with it. Most cases are obvious. The questions people ask are about the edges: a pallet truck that lifts a few centimetres, a trolley jack, a winch, a conveyor, a vacuum lifter. This guide answers them item by item from the regulations and HSE's guidance, with the interval where LOLER applies and what applies instead where it does not.

Written and reviewed by Mark Crowley, Director, Integrity Lift Compliance Ltd — 26+ years hands-on lifting equipment engineering — NHS, commercial and industrial estates

Does it need a LOLER thorough examination?
EquipmentLOLER?Interval, or what applies instead
Axle standsNo: they hold a load up but do not lift itPUWER: keep them in good condition
Chain blocks and lever hoistsYes12 months
ConveyorsUsually notPUWER: maintain and inspect
Cranes, including lorry loadersYes12 months
Dock levellersNot usuallyPUWER, usually every 12 months; LOLER as well where it raises or lowers loads
Engine hoistsYes12 months
Escalators and moving walkwaysNo: the Workplace Regulations and PUWERThorough examination, normally every 6 months
Excavators used to lift loadsYes, when used for lifting12 months; a removable quick hitch, 6 months
Fall arrest harnesses and lanyardsNo: the Work at Height and PPE rulesDetailed inspection at least every 6 months
Forklift trucksYes12 months; 6 when used to lift people
Hook loaders, skip loaders and refuse vehicle bin liftsYes12 months
Lifting accessories: slings, chains, shackles, eyebolts, hooks and spreader beamsYes6 months
Lifting magnets hung from a crane or hoistYes, as accessories6 months
Lifts: passenger and platform lifts, and stairlifts at workYes6 months
Lifts: goods-only lifts and dumbwaitersYes12 months
MEWPs, cherry pickers and scissor lifts that carry peopleYes6 months
Order pickersYes: they lift the operator6 months
Pallet trucks, low-lift (forks rise 300 mm or less)NoPUWER: maintain and inspect
Pallet trucks, high-lift, and stackers (forks rise above 300 mm)Yes12 months
Patient hoists and their slingsYes, when used at work6 months
Roller shutter doorsNoPUWER: maintain and inspect
Rope access equipmentYes: it holds people6 months
Scissor lift tables for goodsYes12 months; 6 if people ride on them
Stairlifts and home lifts the household ownsUsually notService them as the maker recommends
Tail liftsYes12 months; 6 if a person rides the platform
TelehandlersYes12 months; 6 with a work platform
Tipper trucksNoPUWER: maintain and inspect
Tractor fore-end loadersYes12 months
Trolley and bottle jacksYes12 months
Vacuum liftersYes6 months if removable; with the machine if built into it
Vehicle lifts: two-post, four-post and scissorYes6 months, as HSE recommends
WinchesOnly when lifting or lowering12 months when lifting; PUWER when dragging a load along the ground

What decides whether equipment needs a LOLER inspection?

Two questions. Is it lifting equipment, meaning work equipment for lifting or lowering loads, including the accessories that attach a load to it? And is it used at work? If both answers are yes, LOLER applies, and it needs a thorough examination at least every six months if it lifts people or is an accessory, and at least every twelve months otherwise, unless a written scheme sets different intervals. HSE's guidance is that equipment whose main job is not lifting is usually outside LOLER, and so is equipment that only moves a load without really lifting it. Being outside LOLER is not the end of it: if the equipment is used at work, PUWER still requires it to be suitable, maintained and, where wear could make it dangerous, inspected.

Do pallet trucks need a LOLER inspection?

Only high-lift ones. HSE's guidance is that simple pallet trucks, which only raise the load just clear of the ground so it can be moved, are outside LOLER. In 2018 HSE amended its code of practice to make clear that manual and powered high-lift pallet trucks whose forks can rise above 300 mm are covered, so they need a thorough examination at least every twelve months. A low-lift truck is still work equipment: PUWER requires it to be maintained and inspected, and its forks, wheels and hydraulics wear just the same.

Do trolley jacks, engine hoists and vehicle lifts need LOLER?

Yes. They are lifting equipment, and HSE's guidance for vehicle repair is that trolley and bottle jacks, engine hoists and vehicle-mounted cranes should be thoroughly examined every twelve months, chains and web slings every six months, and vehicle lifts every six months. People work beneath a raised vehicle, which is why that interval is the shorter one. Axle stands are different: they hold a vehicle up but do not lift it, so they are not lifting equipment, though PUWER still requires them to be suitable and kept in good condition.

Does a winch need LOLER?

Only if it lifts or lowers the load. HSE's guidance is that winching a load along the ground, where it never leaves the ground, is not a lifting operation, so LOLER does not apply, though PUWER does. A winch that raises or lowers a load, or holds it suspended, is lifting equipment and needs a thorough examination at least every twelve months, or every six months if it lifts people.

Do vacuum lifters and lifting magnets need LOLER?

Yes. HSE lists magnetic and vacuum devices among the equipment LOLER covers. A vacuum lifter that can be attached to and removed from a crane or hoist is a lifting accessory, examined at least every six months, while one built into the machine is part of the lifting equipment and goes on the machine's cycle. A lifting magnet hung from a crane or hoist is an accessory too.

Do conveyors, roller shutter doors and tipper trucks need LOLER?

No. HSE gives escalators and moving walkways, many conveyor systems, simple pallet trucks, roller shutter doors, fall arrest ropes, tipper trucks and dentist chairs as examples of equipment outside LOLER. Each is still work equipment, so PUWER applies: maintain it, and inspect it where wear could make it dangerous. Escalators also come under the Workplace Regulations, and guidelines drawn up with HSE recommend a thorough examination normally every six months.

Do forklifts, telehandlers and order pickers need LOLER?

Yes. Forklifts and telehandlers are lifting equipment, examined at least every twelve months as load-handling machines, and every six months while they are used with a working platform to lift a person. An order picker lifts its operator with the load, so it is equipment for lifting people and is on the six-month cycle. HSE's guidance is that nobody should ever be lifted on the forks of a forklift or in a telehandler bucket.

Do skip loaders, hook loaders and refuse vehicles need LOLER?

Yes. HSE's guidance for the waste industry is that the hoisting mechanisms on hook loaders, skip loaders and refuse collection vehicles are lifting equipment, to be examined by a competent person at least every twelve months. On farms, tractor fore-end loaders are lifting equipment too, along with telehandlers and forklifts.

Sources & Further Reading

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Related Knowledge

What is LOLER?
LOLER is the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. It applies across Great Britain to lifting equipment used at work, and requires that equipment to be strong and stable enough for the job, properly installed and marked, used in planned lifting operations, and thoroughly examined by a competent person at set intervals: at least every six months for equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, and at least every twelve months for everything else, unless a written examination scheme sets different ones.
Read article
LOLER Grey Areas: When Does LOLER Apply?
LOLER covers lifting equipment used at work, and most cases are clear: a lift in an office, a hoist in a care home. The grey areas are equipment in someone's home, equipment one organisation supplies and another's staff use, and lifts that only residents, the public or volunteers ride. For each, this guide sets out where the line sits, what HSE says, and the safe course where the law is unsettled. It also clears up a common mix-up over what counts as lifting equipment.
Read article
How Often Are LOLER Inspections Required?
At least every six months for equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, at least every twelve months for everything else, or in line with a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person. That is the whole rule. What catches duty-holders out is rarely the interval itself — it is when the clock starts, what resets it, and the examinations that fall outside the cycle altogether.
Read article