School Lifting Operations and Equipment Management Procedure

Use this procedure only where the school provides, hires, controls or uses lifting equipment or carries out lifting operations. The responsible school role is [responsible school role].

1. Identify the equipment and activity

Identify all lifting equipment and lifting accessories that the school provides, hires, controls or uses. Record the equipment identifier, location, whether it lifts loads or people, whether it is a lifting accessory, and whether the school carries out lifting operations using it.

For each item, determine whether it lifts loads only, lifts people, is a lifting accessory, falls into more than one category, or is not used for lifting. Where the use category is unknown, record [lifting equipment use category] before arranging the applicable examination.

2. Plan, supervise and carry out lifting operations safely

Every lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. The person planning the operation should have adequate practical and theoretical knowledge and expertise in planning the lifting operations being undertaken.

A formal written plan is not required for every individual operation. Where there is a significant change from standard practice, provide additional planning so that the lifting operation remains safe. Record the applicable lifting-operation plan or risk assessment at [lifting operation record location].

3. Verify safe-working-load information

Before use, verify that machinery and accessories for lifting loads are clearly marked or otherwise provided with information indicating their safe working load. Where the safe working load depends on the configuration, ensure that the safe working load for each configuration is marked or that the information is kept with the machinery.

For chain and wire slings, the safe working load should be marked legibly and indelibly on a durable tag or label attached to the sling, or marked on the ferrule or master link. Colour coding alone is not normally acceptable as the indication of safe working load, although it may be an additional feature.

Where an individual lifting accessory remains part of a specific item of lifting equipment and is not disassembled after use, it does not need to be separately marked; the lifting equipment must instead have a safe-working-load rating suitable for all items in its assembly.

4. Appoint a competent and sufficiently independent examiner

Arrange thorough examinations only with a competent person who has suitable practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment. The examiner must be sufficiently independent and impartial to make objective decisions and must have authority to make recommendations without fear or favour.

The person who routinely services or maintains the equipment should not normally conduct its thorough examination, because that person would be assessing their own work. Record the examiner and the basis for competence and independence at [examiner appointment record].

5. Control new, assembled, installed and relocated equipment

Before first use, arrange examination of new lifting equipment unless it has a valid Declaration of Conformity that is less than one year old and the equipment was not assembled on site or does not depend on the conditions of installation for safety.

If the equipment was assembled on site or depends for safety on how it was installed, arrange examination by a competent person to confirm that the assembly was correct and safe. For equipment requiring assembly or installation before use, arrange examination after assembly and before use at each location, including after relocation where the equipment is installed at another location.

Do not place equipment into use at the relevant location before the required examination has confirmed that it has been installed correctly and is safe for use. Record the equipment, location and examination report at [installation and relocation record].

6. Control hired lifting equipment

When hiring lifting equipment, satisfy the school at the outset that a current thorough-examination report is available. This applies even where the hire firm normally arranges the examination.

Match the report to the hired equipment and retain the report with the hire information at [hired equipment record].

7. Arrange routine thorough examinations

Routine servicing or maintenance does not replace a LOLER thorough examination. Arrange a thorough examination every 12 months for lifting equipment used to lift loads, every 6 months for equipment used to lift people, and every 6 months for lifting accessories, unless a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person specifies different intervals.

A competent person may specify a more rigorous examination scheme, including where equipment is used in extreme temperatures, a potentially corrosive environment, particularly heavy use, or circumstances in which failure could have potentially catastrophic consequences. A written scheme may exceptionally extend an interval where deterioration is expected to be very slow or where a sampling and inspection scheme is more appropriate.

Record each examination report, the equipment identifier, the examination date and the next due date at [thorough examination register]. Retain any written examination scheme with the register.

8. Arrange event-triggered examinations

Arrange a further thorough examination after any accident or dangerous occurrence, any significant change in conditions of use, the replacement of any parts subject to thorough examination, or any long period of inaction.

Before the equipment is returned to use, record the event, identify the affected equipment, obtain the competent person's examination report and address any defect identified in the report. Record the event and resulting action at [event triggered examination record].

9. Act on defects and maintain separation of records

Review every thorough-examination report and act on defects identified by the competent person. Link the action to the equipment identifier and retain the examination report and associated defect action at [defect action record].

Keep routine servicing and maintenance records separate from thorough-examination records. Routine servicing does not itself demonstrate that the required thorough examination has taken place.

10. Site-specific application

This procedure applies to [school name] only where the school provides, hires, controls or uses lifting equipment or carries out lifting operations. The school’s lifting-equipment and lifting-operation status is [school lifting activity status].