LOLER

LOLER stands for the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (or Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999). The regulations aim to reduce risks to people’s health and safety from lifting equipment provided for use at work. In addition to the requirements of LOLER, lifting equipment is also subject to the requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998(PUWER) (or Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999), see our section on PUWER for more information.

Lifting equipment includes any equipment used at work for lifting or lowering loads, including attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting it. The regulations cover a wide range of equipment including, cranes, fork-lift trucks, lifts, hoists, mobile elevating work platforms, and vehicle inspection platform hoists. The definition also includes lifting accessories such as chains, slings, eyebolts etc.

LOLER does not apply to escalators; these are covered by more specific legislation, i.e. the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (or Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993).

If you allow employees to provide their own lifting equipment, then this, too, is covered by the regulations.

If you are an employer or self-employed person providing lifting equipment for use at work, or you have control of the use of lifting equipment, then the regulations will apply to you. They do not apply if you provide equipment to be used primarily by members of the public, for example lifts in a shopping centre. However, such circumstances are covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act).

While your employees do not have duties under LOLER, they do have general duties under the HSWA or HSWO and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) (or Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000), for example, to take reasonable care of themselves and others who may be affected by their actions and to co-operate with others.

The regulations cover places where the HSWA or HSWO applies - these include factories, offshore installations, agricultural premises, offices, shops, hospitals, hotels, places of entertainment, etc.

You need to ensure that in using any lifting equipment the requirements of LOLER are met. For example, you should ensure that all lifting equipment is:

• Sufficiently strong, stable and suitable for the proposed use. Similarly, the load and anything attached (e.g. timber pallets, lifting points) must be suitable
• Positioned or installed to prevent the risk of injury, e.g. from the equipment or the load falling or striking people
• Visibly marked with any appropriate information to be taken into account for its safe use, e.g. safe working loads. Accessories, e.g., slings, clamps etc., should be similarly marked

• Lifting operations are planned, supervised and carried out in a safe manner by people who are competent;
• Where equipment is used for lifting people it is marked accordingly, and it should be safe for such a purpose, e.g., all necessary precautions have been taken to eliminate or reduce any risk;
• Where appropriate, before lifting equipment (including accessories) is used for the first time, it is thoroughly examined. Lifting equipment may need to be thoroughly examined in use at periods specified in the regulations (i.e. at least six-monthly for accessories and equipment used for lifting people and, at a minimum, annually for all other equipment) or at intervals laid down in an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person. All examination work should be performed by a competent person; and
• Following a thorough examination or inspection of any lifting equipment, a report is submitted by the competent person to the employer to take the appropriate action.

The requirements of the regulations need to be considered alongside other health and safety law. For example, section 2 of the HSWA or HSWO requires all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all their employees. Similarly, the MHSWR contain important duties which relate to the carrying out of a risk assessment to identify measures that you can take to eliminate, or reduce, the risks presented by the particular hazards in your workplace.

Other more specific legislation, for example the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPE) (or The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993), may also apply. Under these particular regulations there may be a need to provide a safety harness for rope access work during activities such as window cleaning.

Health and safety inspectors enforce the regulations. If you are not fulfilling your duties under LOLER, inspectors will be prepared to take firm enforcement action.