LOLER and PUWER Requirements for Equipment Management, Records and Inspections

About the author:

Jess Garland is a former IRATA Level 3 rope tech, she spent 9 years dangling from ropes on a wide variety of sites before hanging up her harness to start a family. She continues to use her practical experience from a keyboard with Scannable.

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Let’s take a look at the LOLER and PUWER requirements for equipment management, maintaining equipment records, and inspection requirements. 

What is LOLER and PUWER? 

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER), and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) are sets of regulations created under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. These sets of regulations came into force in Great Britain in 1998.

LOLER places duties on companies and people who own or operate lifting and work equipment. The need for inspection and maintenance is outlined, as well as details around 'thorough examinations’.

PUWER regulates standards of safety for equipment used in work environments.

What is Lifting Equipment? 

Lifting equipment includes any equipment used for lifting and lowering loads or people, as well as anchor attachments and equipment used to attach the person or load to the system.

Where do I find the LOLER labelling and Thorough Examination requirements?

LOLER Regulation 7 details the requirements for clearly labelling, or otherwise making available, details of the safe working load of each piece of lifting equipment or accessory. 

LOLER Regulation 9 puts in place requirements for all lifting equipment to be subject to ‘thorough examination’ at various points.

How often does LOLER require Thorough Examinations?

LOLER stipulates that equipment must be thoroughly examined before its first use. After this, unless there is an 'examination scheme' specifying other intervals, thorough examinations should be conducted by a competent person every:

• 6 months for lifting equipment and any associated accessories used to lift people
• 6 months for all lifting accessories‍
• 12 months for all other lifting equipment

What information is required in a Thorough Examination Report?

LOLER Regulation 10, Schedule 1 details the minimum amount of information that must appear in a thorough examination report.

See the below table for a quick rundown.

With Scannable’s Equipment Inspection capabilities paired with the Thorough Examination feature, you can tick all of these boxes with minimal effort. With Scannable's Thorough Examinations, you can:

→ Group inspections into a Thorough Examination

→ Assign a Job Number

→ Report on Examinations

→ Set a Working Load Limit

→ Download a Certificate of Thorough Examination including:

✔️ legal declaration

✔️ signature of the competent person

✔️ customer’s address

✔️ address of the person issuing the report

Check out this video for a run-down on how it works!

*only members that are assigned the “Competent Person” role can use the Thorough Examinations feature.

Want to chat with someone about Thorough Examinations and Scannable's other features in more detail? Click here to book a 30-minute demo with our team—it's completely free!