LOLER or Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 states that any lifting equipment that is used in a workplace in the UK must be compliant with the regulations, irrespective of whether the equipment is owned, hired, or leased, and irrespective of the sector or industry that the equipment is used in. Employers & Self employed people have the responsibility to choose suitable lifting equipment for the task, get the equipment examined at regular intervals and plan and supervise the lifting work. There are no exemptions, be it in terms of the size of the equipment, the weight of the load, or the frequency of use.
LOLER works in parallel with Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), and which regulations state the wider requirements for the maintenance and the safe condition of all work equipment. Where lifting equipment is being used, all these regulations apply at the same time.
**Compliance With Requirement for Thorough Examination **
As per LOLER requirements, for lifting equipment used for lifting people, a thorough examination must be conducted every 6 months, lifting equipment used for lifting loads (not people) must be examined at a minimum of 12-month intervals unless the examiner, having regard for the nature, condition, use, environment, or operational intensity of the equipment, determines that more frequent thorough examinations are warranted.
A thorough examination is not an operational maintenance inspection. A thorough examination is an exhaustive and methodical examination conducted by an engineer of an independent inspecting organization (examiner) who determines whether or not the equipment is safe to continue to be used. The examiner must prepare a report, which, in the case of equipment that is not used for lifting people, must be maintained for 2 years after the report is prepared or until the equipment is rendered out of service.
In cases where the thorough examination identifies a defect that may be, or that may become, a risk to people, a notice must be served to the duty holder, and in some cases, a notice must be served to the HSE. Equipment that is found to be defective and poses an imminent danger shall not be returned to service until the defect is corrected.
Electric Chain Hoists
Electric chain hoists are one of the most basic construction type of mechanisms used for handling overhead loads. They are suspended from a fixed point, such as a beam, trolley or runway, and are able to raise and lower loads using a motorised chain drive. The load capacities of chain hoists can reach from 125 kg for light-duty workshop applications to 20 tonnes and above for heavy industrial use.
Every electric chain hoist has to be marked with its Safe Working Load (SWL). Marking this makes it clear to people using the electric chain hoist that operating this hoist beyond its SWL is a serious safety breach and a breach of LOLER. The SWL marking on hoists only applies to the hoist mechanism itself; the complete lifting assembly SWL, which includes the hook, trolley and any part of the supporting structure, is determined by the lowest-rated component of the chain.
Wire rope hoists are used when there is not a lot of head room, or when a greater lift distance is needed than a chain configuration would allow. Each type of hoist has different characteristics such as headroom, speed, load holding, and maintenance which will be covered on the individual sub-pages for each type of hoist.
Manual Hoists – Chain Blocks & Lever Hoists
Manual chain blocks and lever hoists are alternatives to using a powered hoist when they are not available or applicable and for less frequent lifts where the expense and installation of a permanent powered unit are not justified. Each type uses a different type of mechanical advantage: a chain block uses a pulley system and a lever hoist uses a ratchet system. This enables a single user to lift a substantially heavier load than they would be able to lift on their own.
Chain blocks are purpose-built for vertical lifting, while lever hoists are flexible for vertical lifting, horizontal pulling, and load securing, which is ideal for maintenance and recovery where the load’s direction may change.
Both are subject to the same thorough LOLER examination requirements as powered hoists and carry SWL markings. Manual hoists are often not included in inspection programmes. Although portable, the fact they are often stored or moved between sites and departments (especially when this has not been formally recorded) does not absolve the owners from their LOLER obligations.
**Gantry Cranes and Runway Beams**
Gantry cranes that run along elevated runway beams are overhead travelling cranes. They are the most common type of heavy load handling solution within defined floor spaces in workshops and production facilities. The hoist moves along a bridge beam that crosses the runway rails. Thus, the complete bridge assembly moves from one end of the runway beam to the other, allowing the hoist to operate over a rectangular area.
Gantry cranes are defined based on their Safe Working Load and span. Both of these must be in accordance with the structural capability of the building or the supporting structure. The runway beams and columns provide part of the assembly for purposes of LOLER and as such, must also be part of the scope of the thorough examination.
Free-standing gantries are mobile or permanent hoist support structures that are not attached to the building. They are useful where the building is not compatible with overhead crane load structures or where the lift point needs to be moved. Free-standing gantries must also meet LOLER examination requirements, and must be engineered to sustain the specified SWL as part of the design parameters.
Crane Forks and Attachments
Crane forks, lifting beams, spreader beams, and other devices used between the hoist hook and the load are considered lifting accessories and are subject to LOLER regulations and their own thorough examination requirements which are separate from the hoist itself. The SWL of the complete lifting assembly is set by the lowest-rated part, so a 5-tonne hoist and a 2-tonne lifting beam has an effective SWL of 2 tonnes.
Attachments are to be marked with their SWL and, if their SWL is dependent on the angle of use (as is the case with spreader beams), their SWL at each relevant angle is to be marked or included in the supporting documentation.
Planning and Supervision of Lifting Operations
LOLER Regulation 8 mandates that every lifting operation be properly planned by a competent individual, adequately supervised, and executed in a safe manner. For simple, repetitive lifts using fixed equipment, such as a chain hoist lifting the same loads in the same position every day, a generic lift plan that pertains to that operation is sufficient. However, in cases of complicated, unusual, or high-risk lifts, a specific lift plan is to be developed for that particular operation.
A person of adequate capability to plan a lifting operation does not require possession of a particular qualification, though he must possess the requisite knowledge, experience, and training, relative to the complexity and risk of the operation being planned. Typical for complex or heavy lifts, a specialist lifting engineer is usually brought in.