LOLER Regulations 1998: A Practical UK Guide

The telehandler turns up on Monday morning. The hire paperwork is in the cab, but nobody can find the thorough examination report for the forks. By lunchtime a set of chain slings has been borrowed from another job, with no tag and no idea when they were last looked at. And the lift going ahead this afternoon was "planned" in a two-minute chat by the cabin. That's how most LOLER problems start: not with bad intentions, but with small gaps nobody owns.

The LOLER regulations are the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. They apply to anyone who owns, operates or has control over lifting equipment at work. In short, LOLER requires every lifting operation to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner. Lifting equipment must be strong and stable enough, marked with its safe working load, and thoroughly examined by a competent person before first use and then at set intervals: every 6 months for equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, and every 12 months for other lifting equipment, unless a written examination scheme says otherwise.

This guide walks through what that means on a real site or in a building you manage.

What is LOLER?

LOLER is a set of regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It came into force on 5 December 1998 and is published as SI 1998/2307. HSE's LOLER overview says it applies to "people and companies who own, operate or have control over lifting equipment", including businesses whose employees use lifting equipment they don't own.

The practical guidance sits in HSE's Approved Code of Practice L113, Safe use of lifting equipment. If you're responsible for lifting on site, it's worth having a copy.

What counts as lifting equipment?

LOLER covers work equipment for lifting and lowering loads, plus the accessories and attachments used to anchor, fix or support it. On a typical UK site or estate that includes:

• Tower cranes, mobile cranes and lorry loaders
• Telehandlers and forklift trucks
• Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), such as scissor lifts and boom lifts
• Passenger and goods lifts, and construction hoists
• Chain blocks, lever hoists and gin wheels
• Vehicle tail lifts and vehicle hoists in workshops
• Lifting accessories: slings, shackles, eyebolts, spreader beams and lifting clamps

HSE notes that some equipment, such as escalators, moving walkways and simple pallet trucks that only raise a load slightly, isn't covered by LOLER's specific requirements, though PUWER still applies.

What the LOLER regulations require

The main duties sit in regulations 4 to 11. Here's what each one means in practice.

Strength and stability (regulation 4)

Lifting equipment must be of adequate strength and stability for each load. Stability depends on what the equipment is standing on, so ground conditions matter. A mobile crane on outriggers next to a backfilled trench, or a MEWP on a soft verge, is a stability problem before it's anything else.

Lifting people (regulation 5)

Equipment for lifting people has extra requirements. It must prevent a person using it from being crushed, trapped or struck or falling from the carrier, and it must allow anyone trapped to be rescued without being put in danger. That's why MEWP rescue plans matter, and why lifting people in a skip or on the forks of a telehandler, rather than in a carrier designed for the job, isn't acceptable.

Positioning and installation (regulation 6)

Equipment must be positioned or installed to reduce the risk of the equipment or load striking people, and of a load drifting, falling freely or being released unintentionally. Think about slew radius, overhead lines, and loads passing over occupied areas.

Marking (regulation 7)

Machinery and accessories for lifting loads must be clearly marked with their safe working load (SWL). Where the SWL depends on configuration, such as a crane's radius, that information must be marked on the equipment or kept with it. Equipment designed for lifting people must be marked as such, and equipment that could be mistakenly used for lifting people must be marked as "not designed for lifting persons".

Planning and supervision (regulation 8)

Every lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner. We cover lifting plans in more detail below.

Thorough examination and inspection (regulation 9)

This is the part most people know LOLER for, and it gets its own section below.

Reports, defects and records (regulations 10 and 11)

The person carrying out a thorough examination must tell the employer straight away about any defect that is or could become a danger, and make a written report as soon as practicable. Where a defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, they must also send a copy of the report to the relevant enforcing authority. The employer must then make sure the equipment isn't used until the defect is put right. Schedule 1 of LOLER lists what the report must contain, including the SWL, details of any defects and the latest date for the next thorough examination.

LOLER thorough examination intervals

Regulation 9 of the LOLER regulations sets out when lifting equipment must be thoroughly examined:

• Before first use, unless it's new and comes with a declaration of conformity made within the previous 12 months, or it arrives from another business with physical evidence of its last examination.
• After installation or assembly, where safety depends on how it's installed, such as a tower crane or a construction hoist, and again each time it's assembled at a new site or location.
• Every 6 months for lifting equipment used for lifting people (MEWPs, passenger lifts, man-riding baskets) and for all lifting accessories (slings, shackles, eyebolts).
• Every 12 months for all other lifting equipment.
• In line with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, as an alternative to the fixed intervals.
• After exceptional circumstances that could affect safety, such as damage or a failure.

Regulation 9 also requires inspections by a competent person at suitable intervals between thorough examinations, where the equipment is exposed to conditions that could cause it to deteriorate. On top of that, operators should carry out simple pre-use checks in line with the manufacturer's instructions and your own procedures, such as checking slings for cuts and damaged stitching before each lift.

Who can carry out a thorough examination?

A competent person, meaning someone with enough practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment to spot defects and judge how serious they are. According to HSE's guidance on thorough examinations, they should be independent and impartial enough to make objective decisions, and they shouldn't be the same person who does the routine maintenance, because they'd be assessing their own work. In practice many firms use an insurer's engineering inspector or a specialist examination company.

How long must you keep reports?

Regulation 11 sets different retention periods for different reports. For the regular periodic examinations, you keep the report until the next one is made or for two years, whichever is later. HSE says reports don't have to be kept on paper, as long as you can produce a written copy when needed. On a site with hired plant, get copies of current reports from the hire company before the equipment goes to work.

Lifting plans: what "properly planned" looks like

Regulation 8 doesn't mean every lift needs a thick document. HSE's guidance on planning and organising lifting operations says planning should match the complexity of the lift. For routine lifts, a single generic plan may be all that's needed. More complex lifts, such as a tandem lift with two cranes, need a written plan from someone with significant and specific competence.

A good lifting plan usually covers:

• The load: weight, centre of gravity, lifting points and how it will be slung
• The equipment: type, capacity at the radius needed, and current examination reports
• Ground conditions, outrigger loads and any buried services or voids
• Overhead hazards: power lines, structures, trees
• The exclusion zone and how people will be kept from under the load
• Weather limits, especially wind speed
• Who does what: the appointed person, crane supervisor, operator, slinger and signaller
• Communication: hand signals or radios, and what happens if contact is lost
• Emergency and rescue arrangements, especially for lifting people

The lifting plan often sits alongside or within your RAMS. Our guide on how to write a method statement shows how to set out the sequence of work so the lift plan and method statement tell the same story. Hand signals should follow a recognised standard, and our guide to hazard symbols and safety signs covers where that fits in the Safety Signs and Signals Regulations.

LOLER in practice: UK site examples

Construction: steel erection and materials handling

A steel frame going up on a city-centre site will involve a mobile crane, chains, shackles, spreader beams and MEWPs for the connectors. That's several LOLER intervals in one job: 6-monthly for the accessories and MEWPs, 12-monthly for the crane (unless it's on an examination scheme), and a fresh examination for anything whose safety depends on how it's assembled on site. The lift plan needs to deal with the ground, the exclusion zone and the delivery sequence. Our CDM 2015 guide covers how lifting fits into the wider construction phase.

Facilities management: passenger lifts and plant rooms

A building manager with passenger lifts used for work has LOLER duties. Because the lifts carry people, the 6-month interval applies unless a competent person has drawn up an examination scheme, and maintenance contractors working on them will need their own RAMS. Our RAMS for lift engineers page covers the usual tasks. Don't forget the smaller kit either: a chain block over a plant room pump, or a gantry used to swap out a motor, is lifting equipment too.

Scaffolding, roofing and small works

A gin wheel on a scaffold, a hoist for roof tiles or a lorry loader dropping bags of sand are all covered. Small firms often miss the accessories: the gin wheel rope and the lifting bags are lifting accessories with a 6-month interval. Our RAMS for scaffolders page and working at height regulations guide are useful here too.

LOLER vs PUWER: the short version

Most lifting equipment is also work equipment, so both sets of regulations apply. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) cover the general duties for all work equipment, such as suitability, maintenance, training and guarding. LOLER adds the lifting-specific duties on top: planning lifts, SWL marking and thorough examination. Our PUWER guide has a fuller side-by-side comparison.

Common LOLER failures

• No current thorough examination report for hired or borrowed equipment.
• Lifting accessories with no ID tag, so nobody can link them to a report.
• Examinations done by the same person who maintains the kit.
• Lifts carried out with no plan, or a generic plan used for a lift that clearly isn't routine.
• Defects reported but the equipment kept in use.
• Using the wrong equipment for lifting people.

If a load-bearing part of lifting equipment (not an accessory such as a sling) collapses or fails, that's a RIDDOR dangerous occurrence, even if nobody is hurt. Our RIDDOR reporting guide explains what to report and when.

How swiftRMS helps

swiftRMS drafts RAMS for construction, FM and security teams. For a lifting task, you describe the job, the equipment and the site, and it produces a draft risk assessment and method statement built around LOLER and PUWER that cites the relevant legislation. The draft prompts you on the kind of points a lifting RAMS should deal with, such as the exclusion zone, examination records, ground conditions and rescue arrangements, and it's ready for review.

It doesn't replace your lifting plan or your appointed person. A competent person must review, edit and approve the RAMS against the actual site, equipment and lift before work starts, in line with regulations 3 and 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. What it does mean is you're not starting from a blank page.

To see a draft for your own lifting task, try the free RAMS preview with no signup at app.swiftrms.co.uk/try. If it helps, there's a 14-day free trial with no card needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does LOLER stand for?

LOLER stands for the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. They apply in Great Britain to anyone who owns, operates or has control over lifting equipment used at work. HSE's Approved Code of Practice L113 gives the practical guidance.

How often does lifting equipment need a LOLER inspection?

Under regulation 9, a thorough examination is needed every 6 months for equipment that lifts people and for all lifting accessories, and every 12 months for other lifting equipment. A competent person can instead set intervals in an examination scheme. Equipment also needs examining before first use, after installation at a new location where its safety depends on installation, and after anything that could affect its safety, such as damage.

Who is a competent person under LOLER?

Someone with enough practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment to find defects and judge how serious they are. HSE says they should be independent and impartial enough to make objective decisions, and they shouldn't be the person who maintains the equipment. They can be from an outside company or from your own staff, provided they're independent enough.

Does every lift need a written lifting plan?

Every lift needs to be planned by a competent person, but the level of detail should match the risk. HSE says routine lifts may be covered by a single generic plan, while complex lifts, such as tandem crane lifts, need a detailed written plan from someone with specific competence.

What's the difference between LOLER and PUWER?

PUWER covers all work equipment, including lifting equipment, with general duties such as suitability, maintenance and training. LOLER adds specific duties for lifting equipment and lifting operations, such as planning, SWL marking and thorough examination. Most lifting equipment is covered by both. Our PUWER guide goes into more detail.

Does LOLER apply to passenger lifts in offices?

HSE says lifts provided for use in work activities must be thoroughly examined by a competent person at regular intervals, and because a passenger lift carries people, the 6-month interval applies unless there's an examination scheme. Where lifts are mainly used by the public, such as in a shopping centre, HSE says the employer is still responsible for managing the risks and would normally apply standards equivalent to LOLER and PUWER.

Official Resources

• HSE: LOLER overview
• HSE: Thorough examinations and inspections of lifting equipment
• HSE: Planning and organising lifting operations
• HSE: L113 Safe use of lifting equipment (ACOP)
• HSE: Thorough examination and testing of lifts (INDG339)
• legislation.gov.uk: The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998