LOLER is the regulation that governs lifting equipment at work. This page explains what it is and what it requires of you. If you want the examination itself, see thorough examinations; if you are not sure which you need, what is the difference clears it up; if you are being told a service covers it, see thorough examination vs service; and if you want to check where you stand, try am I compliant.
What LOLER is
LOLER stands for the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. It applies wherever lifting equipment is used at work, and it sits alongside the more general duties in PUWER and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
A forklift is lifting equipment. So are its forks, its chains, and any attachment used to lift a load. So are cranes, hoists, MEWPs, vehicle lifts and lifting accessories such as slings and shackles.
In short, LOLER asks four things of the equipment:
- Strong and stable enough for the load, and marked with its safe working load.
- Positioned and installed so the risk of the load or the equipment striking anyone is as low as reasonably practicable.
- Used safely, with lifting operations planned, supervised and carried out safely by competent people.
- Thoroughly examined at defined intervals by a competent person, with a report you keep.
That last one is the duty most people are actually looking for when they search for LOLER, and it is covered in full on our thorough examinations page.
Who LOLER applies to
LOLER places duties on the employer, the self-employed, and anyone who has control of lifting equipment, its use or the people using it. That is broader than ownership: if you have hired a forklift in and it is working on your site under your direction, the duty is yours while it is there.
Owning the machine is not the test. Having control of it is.
Two consequences catch people out:
- Hired-in equipment. Under regulation 9(4) you must not use lifting equipment obtained from another business unless it is accompanied by physical evidence that its last thorough examination has been carried out. Ask for the report before the machine works, and if you hire equipment out, send the report with it.
- Equipment operated by a contractor on your site. Control can be shared, and a shared duty is still your duty. It is worth agreeing in writing who holds what.
The examination intervals, in one place
Regulation 9(3) is the part that fixes the timing, and it carries a condition people routinely miss: it applies to lifting equipment exposed to conditions causing deterioration which is liable to result in dangerous situations. Where it applies:
| Equipment | Minimum interval |
|---|---|
| Lifting equipment for lifting people | At least every 6 months |
| A lifting accessory (slings, chains, shackles) | At least every 6 months |
| Other lifting equipment, including a standard counterbalance forklift | At least every 12 months |
| Any of the above, under an examination scheme | As the scheme specifies |
| After exceptional circumstances | Each time they occur |
Three things are worth drawing out, because they are commonly misunderstood:
- An examination scheme replaces the fixed intervals rather than adding to them. Where a competent person has drawn one up, its timing applies in place of the 6 or 12 month default.
- Exceptional circumstances trigger their own examination: damage, a long period out of use, a major modification. That applies regardless of when the last one was.
- A forklift fitted with a working platform lifts people, so it moves to 6 months.
Between examinations, regulation 9(3)(b) adds that equipment must, if appropriate, be inspected by a competent person at suitable intervals.
Not sure when your machines were last examined? We will check the equipment and the paperwork.
Reports and records
A thorough examination produces a report of thorough examination, and the competent person must notify you of any defect that is or could become a danger.
How long you keep it depends on the examination, which is why general advice on this is usually wrong. For a routine 6 or 12 monthly examination, keep the report until the next report, or for two years, whichever is later (regulation 11(2)). First-use and post-installation examinations have their own periods.
Not every defect stops the truck. Where the competent person specifies a time by which a defect that could become a danger must be put right, the equipment may be used until then. Where the defect is a present danger, the machine comes off the job immediately. Regulation 10(3) covers both cases.
LOLER, PUWER and a service are three different things
This is the single most common confusion in the subject, and it is worth being clear:
- LOLER covers the lifting function: forks, carriage, chains, mast, hydraulics.
- PUWER covers the machine as work equipment: brakes, steering, tyres, guarding, and the requirement that only trained people use it.
- A service is maintenance. It is not a statutory examination and it does not satisfy either regulation on its own.
A CFTS Thorough Examination covers both LOLER and PUWER in one visit and produces one report, which is the practical reason the scheme exists. We explain LOLER against the examination on what is the difference, the examination against a service on thorough examination vs service, and the wider duty on health, safety and compliance.
What we do
We are CFTS accredited and carry out thorough examinations from eight depots with our own engineers, on any machine, whoever supplied it: forklifts, warehouse equipment, access equipment and MEWPs, and lifting accessories.
- Thorough examinations, with the report and the schedule.
- Planned servicing and repairs, so a defect found on an examination can be fixed rather than parked.
- Parts from over £1 million of UK stock.
- Fleet management, so examination dates across a mixed fleet are tracked centrally and scheduled before they fall due.
- Operator training, because PUWER requires that only trained people use the machine.
The HSE publishes its own overview of LOLER if you would rather read the regulator first.
Not sure when your machines were last examined? We will check the equipment and the paperwork.
LOLER: common questions
Eight depots across the UK
Our own engineers, out of our own depots - wherever you are, service comes from us.
Talk to us about thorough examinations
Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. For a breakdown, our callout line runs 24/7.
Additional Services
Checkout our range of other machine services below
