What is LOLER 1998? A Guide to Lifting Equipment Regulations.
Updated: Oct 20
Lifting equipment is used throughout UK workplaces, from passenger lifts and forklift trucks to overhead cranes, vehicle lifts and patient hoists. Regardless of the equipment involved, lifting operations can present significant risks if they are not properly managed.
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) establish legal requirements for lifting equipment used at work, helping businesses manage these risks and protect employees, equipment users and others who may be affected.
This guide explains who LOLER applies to, the equipment it covers, the main legal requirements and when thorough examinations are necessary.
1. What is LOLER 1998 and Who Does It Apply To?
LOLER is a set of UK health and safety regulations governing lifting equipment and lifting operations carried out at work.
Introduced in 1998, the regulations place specific duties on those responsible for lifting equipment, including its suitability, safe use, examination and associated record keeping.
LOLER works alongside the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), which establish wider requirements for the safety, maintenance and inspection of work equipment.
LOLER applies principally to:
Employers who provide or control lifting equipment used by employees.
Self-employed persons who use or control lifting equipment in connection with their work, where the relevant duties apply.
Those in control of lifting equipment, including businesses responsible for equipment used by others.
Ownership alone does not determine responsibility. Hired or leased lifting equipment may still create duties for the business using or controlling it.
The regulations apply across industries including manufacturing, construction, engineering, warehousing, automotive workshops, healthcare and commercial property management.
LOLER is not simply a requirement to arrange periodic inspections. It establishes duties relating to the safe selection, installation, operation and continued use of lifting equipment.
2. What Does LOLER Apply To?
LOLER generally covers equipment used for lifting or lowering loads, including machinery and accessories used to attach or support those loads. A load can include goods, materials, machinery or people.
Common examples include:
Lifts and people-lifting equipment
Passenger lifts, goods lifts, platform lifts, stairlifts, patient hoists and other equipment designed to lift or lower people or goods.
Cranes and hoists
Overhead travelling cranes, gantry cranes, jib cranes, electric hoists, chain blocks, lever hoists and lifting runway systems.
Mobile lifting equipment
Forklift trucks, telehandlers, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), loader cranes and excavators when used for lifting operations within the scope of LOLER.
Vehicle lifting equipment
Two-post and four-post vehicle lifts, mobile column lifts, motorcycle lifts, lifting jacks and other equipment used to raise vehicles.
Lifting accessories
Chains, slings, shackles, eyebolts, lifting beams, lifting clamps, lifting magnets and vacuum lifting attachments.
These examples are not exhaustive. The application of LOLER depends on the equipment's purpose, design and how it is used.
Businesses should consider both the lifting equipment and its associated accessories when identifying equipment requiring examination.
3. What Does LOLER Require?
LOLER establishes several legal duties intended to ensure lifting equipment is suitable, properly installed, safely operated and appropriately examined.
The principal requirements are outlined in Regulations 4–11.
Regulation 4 — Strength and stability
Lifting equipment must be sufficiently strong and stable for its intended use. This includes consideration of the equipment, its supporting structures and any relevant attachments or fixing arrangements.
Regulation 5 — Lifting and lowering people
Additional precautions apply to equipment used for lifting people. These address risks such as falling, crushing, trapping and uncontrolled movement, together with provisions for dealing with emergencies.
Regulation 6 — Positioning and installation
Equipment must be positioned or installed to minimise risks, including loads falling, drifting or being unintentionally released, and people being struck by moving equipment or loads.
Regulation 7 — Marking of lifting equipment
Lifting equipment must be clearly marked with its safe working load (SWL). Accessories must also have appropriate identification of their safe working loads, and equipment intended for lifting people must be suitably identified.
Regulation 8 — Organisation of lifting operations
Lifting operations must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. The level of planning and supervision should reflect the complexity of the operation and the risks involved.
Regulation 9 — Thorough examination
Lifting equipment must undergo thorough examination where required by the regulations, including at prescribed intervals or in accordance with a suitable examination scheme.
Additional inspections may be required where deterioration could create dangerous conditions.
Regulation 10 — Reports and defects
The competent person must provide a written report of thorough examination containing the required information. Where defects present an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the relevant duty holder must be informed immediately and the required report sent to the enforcing authority.
Other defects that could become dangerous must be reported with an appropriate timescale for remedial action.
Regulation 11 — Keeping information
Businesses must retain relevant lifting equipment documentation, including Declarations of Conformity, thorough examination reports and inspection records. These must remain accessible for inspection and may be stored electronically.
Under LOLER Regulation 11, the following minimum retention periods apply:
Declaration of Conformity: For as long as the employer operates the equipment, where a declaration has been received.
Initial thorough examination: Until the equipment is no longer used, or two years for lifting accessories.
Installation examination: Until the equipment is no longer used at the location where it was installed or assembled.
Periodic thorough examination: Until the next report is issued or two years, whichever is later.
Interim inspection records: Until the next corresponding inspection record is made.
Retaining records for longer may be beneficial for monitoring equipment condition, identifying recurring defects and maintaining examination history.
4. When is a Thorough Examination Required?
A thorough examination is a detailed assessment of lifting equipment, undertaken by a competent person to identify defects that are or could become dangerous.
LOLER Regulation 9 establishes several circumstances in which examinations are required.
Before first use
Lifting equipment may require examination before being put into service for the first time.
An exemption can apply where appropriate conformity documentation is available, including a declaration of conformity issued within the preceding 12 months. This does not remove separate examination requirements arising from installation conditions.
Following installation or assembly
Where equipment safety depends on installation conditions, it must be thoroughly examined after installation and before first use. Examination may also be required following assembly at a new location.
Periodic examinations
For equipment exposed to deterioration liable to result in dangerous situations, the normal statutory intervals are:
Every 6 months: Equipment used for lifting people and all lifting accessories
Every 12 months: Other lifting equipment, including many cranes, hoists and forklift trucks.
In accordance with an examination scheme
Alternatively, examinations may follow a suitable scheme drawn up by a competent person. This allows examination intervals and requirements to be tailored to the equipment, its usage, operating environment and associated risks.
For example, equipment subject to heavy use, harsh environments or increased risk of deterioration may require more frequent examinations. Conversely, equipment used infrequently under controlled conditions may justify longer intervals where supported by a suitable risk assessment and examination scheme.
Following exceptional circumstances
Additional thorough examinations are required following exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise equipment safety. Examples may include significant damage, overloading, major alterations, or other events that could affect the equipment's structural integrity or safe operation.
Where such circumstances arise, the equipment should be assessed and any required examination completed before returning it to service.
5. Common Terms Used in LOLER
Understanding some commonly used terms can help businesses interpret examination requirements and reports.
Competent person
A person with sufficient practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment to identify defects and assess their significance. The competent person must also have sufficient independence and impartiality to make objective decisions about equipment safety.
Lifting equipment
Work equipment used for lifting or lowering loads, including relevant attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting the equipment.
Accessory for lifting
Equipment used to attach a load to lifting equipment, such as slings, shackles, eyebolts and lifting beams. Lifting accessories are generally subject to six-monthly thorough examination intervals unless examined under a suitable scheme.
Thorough examination
A systematic and detailed examination of lifting equipment and its safety-critical components, carried out by a competent person. It is distinct from routine servicing, maintenance and operator pre-use checks, which remain important for safe operation.
Further Information
For further information, businesses can refer to the Health and Safety Executive's L113 Approved Code of Practice and Guidance, together with HSE guidance INDG474 (replacement for INDG290 & INDG422) and relevant publications from the Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed).
Steadfast Compliance Ltd provides independent LOLER thorough examinations across Greater Manchester and the North West, helping businesses understand their equipment's condition and meet their statutory examination requirements.
For further information or to arrange an examination, visit Steadfast Compliance or email info@steadfastcompliance.co.uk.
Helping Businesses. Protecting People.
