LOLER Lifting Equipment Management Guidance

This guidance applies where the school controls, plans, or uses lifting equipment in the workplace. Confirm the scope for this school by recording whether such equipment is present or controlled: [lifting equipment scope].

Responsibilities and scope

The arrangements should identify the people who have responsibility for controlling lifting equipment, planning lifting operations, or using lifting equipment at the school. Record the responsible role or roles here: [responsible lifting roles].

Identify the lifting equipment within the school's control or use and maintain an equipment inventory containing the school's relevant site-specific details: [lifting equipment inventory location].

Planning safe lifting operations

Lifting operations should be planned by people with responsibility for planning the operation and using the equipment. Before an operation begins, use the school's arrangements for safe lifting and record any operation-specific information required by those arrangements: [safe lifting planning arrangement].

The school should make its local dos and don'ts of lifting safely available to the people involved in planning or carrying out lifting operations: [safe lifting instructions location].

Thorough examination and examination schemes

Where lifting equipment is subject to LOLER, the school should arrange thorough examination in accordance with the applicable examination arrangements for the equipment. Record the applicable examination arrangement for each item or equipment group: [examination arrangement].

Where an examination scheme is used, retain the scheme with the relevant equipment information and make clear which equipment it covers: [examination scheme location].

Record the examination information held by the school, including the equipment covered, the examination date, the examination outcome, and any action identified in the examination report: [examination record location].

Defects and action

When an examination or other information identifies a defect, follow the school's arrangements for deciding what action is required and record the action taken or required: [defect action arrangement].

Where equipment is not under the school's ownership or full control, record the local arrangement for communicating relevant examination findings or defects to the equipment owner or lessor: [owner or lessor notification arrangement].

Where the school's arrangements require contact with an enforcing authority about a defect, record the responsible role and the contact route here: [enforcing authority reporting arrangement].

Record keeping

Keep the equipment inventory, examination arrangements, examination schemes, examination records, defect information, and action records together or cross-referenced so that the school's arrangements can be followed for each relevant item of lifting equipment.

The person responsible for maintaining these records is [lifting equipment records owner], and the records are held at [lifting equipment records location].

Use of external guidance

The HSE guidance “Lifting equipment at work” may be used as a content and planning reference for equipment subject to LOLER, safe lifting practices, thorough examination, examination schemes, action to take, and record keeping.