LOLER and Lifting-Equipment Examination Reference

Start with scope and function

LOLER applies to lifting equipment used at work. The actual function, configuration and intended use determine the classification; an equipment name alone does not. PUWER or other duties may still apply where an item falls outside LOLER.

Examples that help establish LOLER scope
Scope position	Representative examples	Important distinction
Lifting equipment commonly in scope	Cranes and associated runways within the lifting-equipment boundary, hoists, lifting winches, vehicle lifts and tail lifts, goods and passenger lifts, telehandlers, high-lift pallet trucks capable of raising their forks above 300 mm, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) and suspended work platforms or cradles	A winch is lifting equipment when it raises or lowers a load; horizontal pulling that never raises the load is different.
Accessories for lifting	Slings, chains, hooks, shackles, removable eyebolts, grabs, lifting beams, spreader beams and detachable magnetic or vacuum devices	Where the Regulation 9(3) deterioration condition applies, every lifting accessory is in the six-month category unless a suitable examination scheme specifies another interval.
Integral components	Hoist ropes, crane ropes, integral magnetic or vacuum devices, runway components and machinery-mounted load indicators	These are normally considered with the lifting equipment of which they form part, while still receiving component-specific attention within the thorough examination or, where used, the examination scheme.
Items requiring careful scope review	Fixed structural anchors or padeyes, lifting eyes forming part of a load, pallets, skips, stillages, freight or offshore containers and simple pallet trucks that only raise the load clear of the ground	These are not automatically lifting accessories. An attachment that anchors, fixes or supports lifting equipment may still fall within LOLER. Design, structural, container, PUWER, marine or other duties may also apply.

Equipment families identified in the reviewed matrix

The 2018 matrix usefully broadens the equipment-register prompt beyond cranes and slings. The groupings below translate that inventory into a maintainable register without reproducing the matrix or treating its standards, tests and company-policy symbols as law.

Practical equipment-register families
Family	Representative items from the matrix	Register emphasis
Powered and manual lifting equipment	Pedestal, mobile and overhead cranes; workplace davits; powered, lever and manual hoists; winches; lifts; forklifts; MEWPs; suspended work platforms or cradles; jacks	Identity, configuration, intended use, SWL, installation dependence, examination basis, maintenance and operating limits
Accessories and loose gear	Wire-rope, chain and synthetic slings; shackles; accessory hooks; removable eyebolts; lifting and spreader beams; purpose-designed detachable lifting clamps; lifting-rated turnbuckles	Unique identity, manufacturer WLL or rated capacity, applicable SWL, compatibility, configuration limits, condition, traceability and six-month category or scheme
Ropes and terminations	Hoist and winch ropes, personnel or man-riding ropes, wire-rope slings, wedge sockets and other socketed terminations	Whether integral or an accessory, construction, end termination, discard criteria, inspection method and replacement history
Supporting and attachment items	Runway beams, trolleys, sheave or hook blocks, lifting frames, structural padeyes and attachment clamps	Define whether the item is machinery, an accessory, part of a structure or part of the load before assigning its control basis
Load-measuring and protective devices	Dynamometers, crane weighers, load cells, safe-load indicators and rated-capacity indicators	Function, range, identification, calibration or verification status, alarm or limiting function, relationship to the parent machine and whether it forms part of the load path

Recommended lifting-equipment register fields

This is a management-control prompt, not a prescribed statutory register format or a substitute for the separate LOLER Schedule 1 report.

Unique equipment or accessory identifier
Equipment family, description and current location
Manufacturer, model, serial number and manufacture date where known
Manufacturer WLL or rated capacity, applicable SWL, configuration-dependent values and derating
Intended use, including whether people may be lifted
Declaration of Conformity and initial or installation examination evidence
Prescribed interval or controlled examination-scheme reference
Last examination, next due date and report location
Supporting inspection, maintenance, calibration and test requirements
Design calculations, stress calculations and fabrication evidence where the equipment basis requires them
Calibration, NDT, material or sample-test evidence where specifically required
Associated rope, accessory and safety-device identities
Repair, modification, overload and exceptional-event history
Defect, quarantine, restriction and return-to-service status

Maximum intervals where no examination scheme applies

Where lifting equipment is exposed to conditions causing deterioration liable to result in dangerous situations, it must be thoroughly examined at the applicable intervals below unless a suitable examination scheme sets the basis.

LOLER periodic thorough-examination categories
Category	Examples	Maximum interval
Lifting equipment used to lift people	Passenger lifts, personnel hoists, MEWPs and any other lifting equipment actually used to lift people	No longer than 6 months
Every accessory for lifting	Slings, shackles, hooks, lifting beams, spreader beams, removable eyebolts and similar loose gear	No longer than 6 months
Other lifting equipment	Cranes, goods-only lifts, hoists and other lifting machines not used to lift people	No longer than 12 months

A competent person needs the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience required for the equipment and sufficient independence and impartiality to make objective decisions. The examiner may be employed in-house; external appointment is not automatic. The person who plans a lifting operation and the person who performs the thorough examination also require different task-specific competence and need not be the same person.

First-use, installation and exceptional-event triggers

When thorough examination is required and the boundary that applies
Trigger	Control point
Before first use	Required unless unused equipment is accompanied by a valid Declaration of Conformity made no more than 12 months earlier and safety does not depend on installation or assembly. Equipment obtained from another undertaking needs physical evidence of the last required examination.
After installation or assembly	Examine after installation and before first service where safety depends on installation conditions, and after assembly at a new site or location before use.
After significant repair or modification	After substantial or significant modification or repair, arrange thorough examination before return to service. Include testing only where the competent person determines it is necessary, and update the records.
After exceptional circumstances	Examples include accident, overload, component failure, significant change in use or environment, prolonged inactivity and severe conditions liable to jeopardise safety.
After relocation	Movement alone does not automatically trigger examination. Installation, reassembly or configuration changes that affect safety may do so; check the current report and scheme.

Keep each control distinct

Different controls around lifting-equipment condition
Control	Purpose	Basis and evidence
Pre-use check	User check for visible condition, identity, correct assembly and obvious defects before operation	Manufacturer instructions, task controls and local procedure; record when the system requires it
Interim inspection	Detect deterioration between thorough examinations where risk indicates it is needed	Scope and frequency based on risk, use, environment and manufacturer information; retain the inspection record
Maintenance or service	Preserve or restore condition and function	PUWER, manufacturer and maintenance system; service is not a substitute for thorough examination
LOLER thorough examination	Systematic and detailed examination for defects that are or could become dangerous	Competent person, applicable Regulation 9 trigger, prescribed interval or examination scheme, and a written report containing the required particulars
Testing, proof loading or NDT	Provide additional evidence where needed to assess safety	Selected by the competent person using the scheme, manufacturer and relevant technical requirements; not automatic at every examination
Calibration or function verification	Confirm load cells, indicators and protective devices provide usable information or action	Manufacturer, equipment design, maintenance and examination scheme; no universal daily, weekly or annual LOLER calibration rule applies to every device

Do not copy proof-load percentages or factors of safety from a generic matrix. LOLER does not make overload testing mandatory at every thorough examination, and unsuitable testing can damage equipment. The competent person must determine what testing is necessary for the specific equipment and circumstances.

Thorough-examination reports and retention

There is no compulsory certificate layout, but the written report must contain all information required by LOLER Schedule 1. The selected control prompts below are a practical summary, not a replacement for those mandatory particulars.

Identity and examination prompts

employer or dutyholder name and address;
address of the premises where examined;
equipment identity and manufacture date where known;
safe working load for the configuration examined;
last and current examination dates;
installation findings or other Regulation 9 examination basis;
latest date by which the next examination must occur;
particulars of tests included in the examination.

Decision and authentication prompts

whether the equipment would be safe to operate;
identity and description of dangerous or potentially dangerous defects;
when a defect could become dangerous;
required repair, renewal or alteration;
competent person’s name, address, qualification and employer or self-employed status;
name and address of the report authenticator where different;
date of the report.

Summary of record-retention periods
Record	Retention
Declaration of Conformity	For as long as the equipment is operated
Initial examination: lifting equipment other than an accessory	Until use of the equipment ceases
Initial examination: lifting accessory	For two years after the report is made
Installation examination	Until use at that location ceases
Periodic or exceptional-circumstance examination	Until the next such report is made or for two years after the report is made, whichever is later
Interim inspection record	Until the next inspection record is made

Defect reporting and equipment status

Where the competent person considers a defect to be, or to have the potential to become, a danger to people, they must notify the dutyholder immediately and provide the authenticated written report as soon as practicable. Where the equipment was hired or leased, the report must also be sent to the person from whom it was hired or leased.

Existing or imminent serious risk

The competent person must notify the dutyholder immediately and report the defect in writing. The equipment must not be used until the defect is remedied. Where the defect creates an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the competent person must also send the report to the relevant enforcing authority.

Defect that could become dangerous

The report should state when the defect must be remedied. The equipment must not be used after that deadline until the defect has been corrected.

Quarantine, restriction and return-to-service status should be visible in both the physical control and the equipment register. A maintenance work order does not by itself close a thorough-examination defect.

Jurisdiction and marine boundary

This page summarises the Great Britain LOLER 1998 framework and its specified offshore application. Northern Ireland has separate 1999 regulations. A ship’s lifting equipment that forms part of its work equipment is generally governed by merchant-shipping legislation, while shore-provided equipment, offshore installations and the activity being performed require careful boundary review.

LOLER Regulations 6 and 8 can apply to specified ship operations where the gear is used by people other than the master or crew, or its use puts others at risk. A shore employer should check the gear and relevant test and thorough-examination evidence before authorising use. For a vessel or mobile offshore unit, confirm the applicable Flag, Class, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), owner and operating-jurisdiction requirements. Do not import the matrix’s shipboard annual or five-year testing entries into a land-based LOLER register.

Source and review

Last technical review: 23 July 2026

Current official sources checked

Source-matrix treatment

The supplied NSL Lifting Equipment Legislation Matrix, 2018 Edition was reviewed as a taxonomy and register-design aid. It mixes statutory requirements, standards, accepted practice, testing guidance and company policy. Its equipment examples informed the family and register prompts above; its proprietary layout, symbols, proof-load values, factors of safety and unverified standard editions have not been reproduced.

Contains public-sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence. Use of that information does not imply HSE approval or endorsement.