LOLER Regulations – Lifting Equipment & the Regulations You Must Follow
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) relates to the use of lifting equipment. LOLER regulations are in place in order to reduce potential risks to people’s health and safety at work during the use of lifting equipment within the workplace.
What Should Your Business Do in Regards to LOLER Regulations?
If your business or organisation has staff undertaking lifting operations or is involved in providing lifting equipment or lifting attachments used for anchoring, fixing, or supporting, you must manage and mitigate any potential risks in order to prevent injury or damage.
Wherever you undertake lifting operations involving this lifting equipment, LOLER regulations state that you must:
- Undertake proper and sufficient planning and organising of the operations
- Involve the use of people who are sufficiently competent
- Supervise people and operations appropriately
- Ensure that these operations are being conducted in a safe manner
LOLER Regulations: Everything You Need to Know About Lifting
Regulation 8, section 2, of LOLER regulations define lifting operations as ‘an operation concerned with the lifting or lowering of a load.’ In this instance, a ‘load’ defines the item(s) being lifted, includes the use of equipment used to lift people such as in passenger lifts.
‘Lifting equipment’ in this instance, is defined by the work equipment used for lifting and lowering loads. This includes lifting accessories and attachments used for anchoring, fixing, or supporting the equipment.
LOLER regulations state that lifting equipment must be of sufficient strength and stability – this also adds to the general obligations under PUWER. This lifting equipment must be positioned or installed in ways that reduce the risks of equipment or the load striking a person, or of the load drifting or being unintentionally released.
All lifting equipment must be clearly marked with indications of their safe working loads (SWL). If the SWL changes depending on the configuration of the equipment, this information must reflect all potential configurations.
Accessories must also be clearly marked to show any characteristics that could affect their use and, where equipment is used to lift people, it should be marked to indicate the number of people that can be lifted as well as the SWL of the equipment.
LOLER Regulations: Lifting Operations
According to LOLER regulations, all lifting operations where the use of lifting equipment is required must be:
- Properly and appropriately planned out by a competent person
- Appropriately supervised
- Carried out in a safe manner that doesn’t risk health and safety