Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998

In addition to PUWER, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) apply across all industry sectors.

As the HSE explains: LOLER “place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over lifting equipment. This includes all businesses and organisations whose employees use lifting equipment, whether owned by them or not. In most cases, lifting equipment is also work equipment so the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) will also apply (including inspection and maintenance). All lifting operations involving lifting equipment must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner.”

In addition, the regulations require that lifting equipment is fit for purpose, appropriate for the task, suitably marked and, in many cases, subject to statutory periodic “thorough examination”. Examinations must be recorded and any defects found must be reported to both the person responsible for the equipment and the relevant enforcing authority.

Minor changes were made to Safe use of lifting equipment Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, Approved Code of Practice and guidance (L113) (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l113.pdf), and the ACoP was reissued in December 2014 to clarify the scope of the regulations.