What should a LOLER inspection checklist include?

A LOLER checklist is not a substitute for the thorough examination itself. The examination is done by a competent person using their own judgement, and no form can replace that. What a checklist does is make sure you, as the duty holder, have done your part: the right equipment is examined, on the right dates, by the right person, and the results are acted on.

This checklist is in three parts, in the order you will use them.

Before the examiner arrives

Most problems with LOLER compliance start before the visit. Equipment that is missing from the list never gets examined, and reports that cannot be tied to an item prove nothing.

Build an equipment register

For every item of lifting equipment and every lifting accessory, record:

• a unique ID (asset number or serial number) that is marked on the item itself;
• the type, make and model;
• the safe working load, and any configurations that change it;
• where it is kept or used;
• the date of the last thorough examination and the latest date for the next one;
• whether it lifts people, which sets a 6 month interval.

Do not forget accessories. Slings, shackles, eyebolts, spreader bars and hoist slings are all lifting accessories and sit on a 6 month cycle under regulation 9 of LOLER, whatever they are used to lift.

Check the interval for each item

Use the interval table to put each item in the 6 month or 12 month column. Then ask whether anything has happened since the last report that needs an examination now: an overload, a collision, a major repair, a move to a new location or a long spell out of use.

Prepare the site

During the examination

You do not need to stand over the examiner, but it helps to know what a thorough examination of your kind of equipment should cover, so you can tell a proper one from a walk past with a clipboard.

Forklifts and lift trucks

• Mast sections, rollers and stops.
• Lift chains measured for elongation, and their anchors.
• Fork heels measured for wear, and checked for cracks.
• Lift and tilt cylinders, hoses and drift under load.
• The capacity plate, matched to any attachment.

See forklift LOLER inspection for more.

Patient hoists and slings

• Actuator, lifting tape or strap, and end stops.
• Spreader bar, hooks and clips.
• Emergency lowering and stop.
• Each sling individually, with its label.

See hoist LOLER inspection.

Vehicle lifts

• Columns, arms, arm locks and pads.
• Cables, chains or screws against the maker’s limits.
• Safety locks at every position.
• Anchors and the floor around them.

See vehicle lift LOLER inspection.

Lifting accessories

• Every item identified and marked with its safe working load.
• Web slings for cuts, abrasion, chemical damage and unreadable labels.
• Chain slings for stretched or nicked links and worn hooks.
• Shackles and eyebolts for distortion and thread damage.

Questions worth asking on the day

• Are you independent of whoever maintains this equipment?
• Will any item need a load test or other test, and is it included in the price?
• Will you tag each item, and how will the tag match the report?

After the examination

Read every report

Regulation 10 requires a report for each item, with the details set out in Schedule 1. HSE’s guidance in L113 says the report should reach you within 28 days, and at once if there is a dangerous defect. Check that each report:

• identifies the item by the same ID as your register;
• states the basis of examination (6 months, 12 months, scheme or exceptional circumstances);
• lists any defects with a date by which each must be put right;
• gives the latest date for the next examination;
• names the examiner and is signed or authenticated.

Act on defects

Anything with a dangerous defect must not be used until it is repaired. For other defects, book the repair before the date on the report and keep evidence it was done. If you are unsure whether an item can be used, ask the examiner, not the operator.

File and diarise

Keep periodic reports for at least two years or until the next report, whichever is later. Put every next due date in a diary or system that more than one person can see, with a reminder a month ahead. A missed date is the most common LOLER failure, and the easiest to avoid.

A one-page version

If you would like a competent examiner to work through your equipment register, send us the details and we will find one who covers your sites.