The RCT Source

Where the safe use of work equipment depends on it not being overloaded, markings or other indications of a safe working load (SWL) will be required (for example, storage racking, some containers to hold goods or vehicles intended for carrying materials).

SWL marking is mandatory for lifting equipment subject to the provisions of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.

Thorough examination of lifting equipment must take place every 12 months – or every 6 months if the equipment is used to lift people, in which case any accessories used in lifting should also be inspected every 6 months.

These are the minimum requirements where there is no formal examination scheme drawn up by a competent person.

A competent person may impose a more rigorous examination scheme, for example when the lifting equipment:

• is used in extremes of temperature (e.g. in a foundry or a freezer);
• is used in a potentially corrosive environment (e.g. swimming pool);
• is subjected to particularly heavy use;
• could lead to potentially catastrophic consequences if it failed (e.g. resulting in multiple deaths or the release of a dangerous material).

In addition to these scheduled examinations, lifting equipment will require a thorough examination following:

• any accident or dangerous occurrence;
• any significant change in conditions of use;
• the replacement of any parts that are subject to thorough examination;
• any long periods of inaction.

Yes, but the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) apply over and above the general requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) in dealing with specific hazards/risks associated with lifting equipment and lifting operations.

The main requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) are essentially that any risks to people’s health and safety arising from the use of work equipment are prevented or controlled by:

• selecting and providing the right equipment for the job;
• ensuring work equipment is safely used by trained people;
• inspecting and maintaining work equipment so it remains safe.

The term ‘thorough examination’ is used by a number of regulations concerned with equipment at work, including:

• power presses (Regulation 32 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations);
• lifting equipment (Regulation 9 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations);
• engineering controls provided to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances (the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations);
• pressure systems (Regulation 9 of the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations).

This is an examination under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations and is a complete and thorough check of the lifting equipment and safety-critical parts, carried out at specified intervals by a competent person and concluded with a written report. 

The report must include the date of the thorough examination and the date the next one is due.  It should also specify any defects that are/are about to become a danger to people.

Where serious defects are identified, the competent person carrying out the examination must report this verbally to the dutyholder and then provide this information in a written report.  A copy of the report must also be sent to the relevant enforcing authority.

Lifting equipment is any work equipment where the principal function is to lift and lower loads, and includes:

• cranes;
• fork-lift trucks;
• lifts;
• hoists;
• mobile elevating work platforms;
• vehicle inspection platform hoists.

The term lifting equipment also applies to any accessory used to attach or support the equipment doing the lifting, but which is not a permanent part of the load or lifting equipment, and includes:

• hooks;
• ropes;
• chains;
• shackles;
• eyebolts.

However the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations do not extend to fixed anchor points that form part of a building or structure.

Equipment that lifts only as an incidental aspect of its main function, such as a pallet truck, is not considered to be lifting equipment.

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations define ‘work equipment’ as ‘any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work (whether exclusively or not).’

This includes, for instance, the following:

• ‘tool box’ tools such as hammers, knives, handsaws, meat cleavers etc.;
• single machines such as drilling machines, circular saws, photocopiers, dumper trucks, mowers etc.;
• apparatus such as laboratory apparatus (Bunsen burners etc.)
• lifting equipment such as hoists, lift trucks, elevating work platforms, lifting slings etc.;
• other equipment such as ladders, pressure water cleaners etc.

The following are not classified as work equipment:

• livestock;
• substances (for example, acids, alkalis, slurry, cement, water);
• structural items (for example, walls, stairs, roofs, fences);
• private cars (motor vehicles which are not privately owned fall within the scope of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, but the more specific road traffic legislation will take precedence when they are used on public roads or in public places). 

Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) states that:     

‘every employer shall ensure that all persons who use work equipment have received adequate training for the purposes of health and safety, including training in the methods which may be adopted when using work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and the precautions to be taken’.

There is a similar requirement to ensure adequate training in relation to supervisory and managerial staff.

It is not possible to detail here what constitutes ‘adequate training’, as requirements will vary according to:

• the job or activity;
• the existing competence of workers;
• the circumstances of the work (e.g. the degree of supervision);
• the work equipment etc.

The greater the danger associated with the task or use of the equipment, the more comprehensive the training will need to be.

For simple tasks, in-house on the job training may be adequate, whilst for others, detailed formal training by external specialist providers may be necessary.

There are two situations mentioned in the Health and Safety Executive’s Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and Guidance on PUWER where minimum training obligations are imposed, i.e.:

• chainsaw operators – ‘all workers who use a chainsaw should be competent to do so.  Before using a chainsaw to carry out work on or in a tree, a worker should have received appropriate training and obtained a relevant certificate of competence or national competence award, unless they are undergoing such training and are adequately supervised.  However, in the agricultural sector, this requirement only applies to first-time users of a chainsaw’;
• driver training – ‘you should ensure that self-propelled work equipment, including any attachments or towed equipment, is only driven by workers who have received appropriate training in the safe driving of such equipment’.

There are also specific training requirements made in the ACOPs relating to rider-operated lift trucks, woodworking machinery and power presses.