1.3 Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER 1998)

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998

LOLER applies to work equipment used for lifting or lowering loads and to lifting accessories used to anchor, fix or support that equipment. It works alongside PUWER: LOLER addresses lifting-specific risks, while PUWER continues to cover suitability, maintenance, controls, information and other work-equipment matters.

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Core Duties

Strength and Stability — Regulation 4

Lifting equipment must be of adequate strength and stability for each load, with particular attention to stress at mounting or fixing points. Accessories must be of adequate strength, considering the load, gripping points, attachment arrangement and atmospheric conditions.

Lifting People — Regulation 5

Equipment used to lift people must prevent carrier fall, person fall, crushing or trapping so far as the regulation requires and provide a means of rescue where a person could be trapped. A goods-only machine is not automatically suitable merely because capacity is sufficient.

Positioning and Installation — Regulation 6

Equipment must be positioned or installed to minimise specified risks, including people being struck or loads drifting, falling or being unintentionally released. Where reasonably practicable, loads should not be carried over occupied workplaces; where that cannot be avoided, safe systems of work are required.

Marking — Regulation 7

Machinery must be clearly marked with its safe working load, including configuration-dependent information where appropriate. Accessories must be marked so characteristics necessary for safe use can be identified. Equipment designed for lifting people must be appropriately marked; equipment not designed for people but which might be used that way must carry a suitable warning. Regulation 7 does not by itself prescribe a unique serial number for every item, though product standards and traceability systems often require identifiers.

Organisation — Regulation 8

Every lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. Planning depth is proportionate to risk, but even a routine lift needs a known load, suitable equipment and controlled method.

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Thorough Examination — Regulation 9

Before first use, equipment normally requires thorough examination unless the specified declaration-of-conformity exception applies. Equipment whose safety depends on installation or assembly must be examined after installation or assembly and before use at that place, and after assembly at a new site where applicable.

For periodic examination, the competent person may use an examination scheme that sets intervals and scope. The scheme need not be approved by HSE. Without a scheme, the default intervals are:

• six months for lifting accessories;
• six months for lifting equipment used to lift people; and
• 12 months for other lifting equipment.

Examination is also required after exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise safety. The competent person determines the extent needed to detect defects likely to be dangerous, including any appropriate testing. HSE states that most lifting equipment does not need routine overload testing during every examination.

A pre-use check, maintenance visit or colour tag does not replace thorough examination or its report.

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Reports and Dangerous Defects — Regulation 10

The competent person makes a report containing the prescribed particulars. If a defect is or could become a danger to persons, the competent person must notify the employer forthwith and state the time by which it should be remedied.

Where the defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the competent person must also send a copy of the report to the relevant enforcing authority as soon as practicable. These are two related tests: not every reportable defect requires external notification, but every defect meeting the serious existing-or-imminent threshold does.

Where the report says equipment should not be used before a defect is rectified, the employer must ensure it is not used until remedy. Informal “50% capacity” operation is not an alternative unless an authorised assessment and report actually establish a safe configuration.

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Record Retention — Regulation 11

Retention depends on why the examination occurred:

• first-use information for a lifting accessory: at least two years;
• first-use information for other lifting equipment: until the employer ceases to use it;
• installation/assembly examination: until the equipment ceases to be used at that location; and
• periodic Regulation 9(3) report: until the next such report is made or two years have passed, whichever is later.

Reports must be readily available to the enforcing authority when required. A scan can aid access, but document control must preserve identity, completeness and authenticity.

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Roles in a Lift

The dutyholder ensures adequate organisation and resources. An appointed person or other competent planner develops the plan; a lift supervisor controls execution; operators and slinger-signallers work within their competence and instructions. Titles vary between standards and organisations, so responsibility must be explicit in the plan.

The thorough-examination competent person is making an objective safety assessment, not supervising the lift. Independence should be sufficient to resist operational pressure and report defects accurately.

The exam approach is to link each scenario to equipment, operation, examination, report and record rather than treating LOLER as only a six- or twelve-month calendar.