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The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998

 

The regulations aim to reduce the risks to people’s health and safety from lifting equipment provided for use at work.

Generally, the regulations require that lifting equipment provided for use at work is:

• Strong and stable enough for the particular use and marked to indicate safe working loads;
• Positioned and installed to minimise risks;
• Used safely, i.e. the work is planned, organized and preformed by competent people;
• Subject to ongoing through examination and where appropriate, inspection by competent people

Lifting equipment is defined as

Any equipment used at work for lifting or lowering loads, including attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting it.

If employees are able to use their own lifting equipment then this is also covered by the regulations

These regulations apply to an employer or self employed person providing lifting equipment for use at work or who has control of the use of lifting equipment. The regs do not apply to equipment used by members of the public i.e. lifts in a shopping centre.

The regs only apply to work activities, including the following:

• A crane on hire to a construction site
• A contract lift
• A passenger lift provided for use of workers in an office block
• Refuse collecting vehicles lifting on a public road
• Patient hoist
• Fork lift truck

These regulations add to the requirements of the PUWER Regs and should be interpreted with them.

An example of this would be when selecting the lifting equipment PUWER Reg 4, suitability should also be considered i.e.

• Ergonomics
• The conditions in which the equipment is to be used
• Safe access and egress
• Preventing slips, trips and falls
• Protecting the operator

Although employees do not have specific duties under these regulations they do have duties to comply with under HSAWA 1974 i.e. to take care of themselves and others who might be affected by their actions.

The regulations cover all places where the HSW Act applies, including:

• Factories
• Offshore installations
• Agricultural premises
• Offices
• Shops
• Hospitals
• Hotels
• Places of entertainment

Employers should always ensure that the lifting equipment is of adequate strength and stability of each load allowing for the stress induced at mounting or fixing point.

Account should be taken into consideration of all aspects of the lifting process including accessories so that failure or other such factors can be allowed for.

When the equipments purpose is to lift persons then there are additional requirements in place to ensure persons safety, the equipment should:

• Prevent a person using it from being crushed, trapped or struck, or falling from carrier
• Prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, persons using it while carrying out work
• Prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, person using it while carrying out work, from the carrier being crushed trapped or struck or falling from the carrier
• Have suitable devices to prevent the risk of the carrier falling. If a device cannot be fitted, the carrier must have:
• An enhanced safety coefficient suspension rope or chain;
• The rope or chain inspected every working day by a competent person

Lifting equipment must be positioned and installed in order to reduce risks as far as it reasonably practicable from:

• Equipment or a load striking another person
• A load drifting, falling freely or being released unintentionally and it is otherwise safe

Lifting equipment should be installed or positioned limiting the need for loads to be lifted over people, it should also be designed to stop safely and not release its load in the event of a power failure. Lifting equipment which follows a fixed path should be encased with substantial and sufficient interlocked gates with appropriate precaution in place in case of power failure.

All equipment should be safely marked detailing safe working loads (SWL) and:

• Where the SWL depends on the configuration of the lifting equipment the machinery it should be clearly marked and information concerning the SWL and configuration should also be kept with the machinery.
• Accessories for lifting i.e. hooks are also labeled identifying how to use safely
• Lifting equipment meant for people should be clearly marked
• Lifting equipment that is not meant for lifting people but could be used in error, signage should be displayed to identify this fact

When planning a lifting operation it is important that:

• It is planned by a competent person
• Appropriately supervised
• Carried out in safe manner

It is important that the person planning the lifting operation have sufficient practical and theoretical knowledge and should take into account any risk assessments. They should also take into account:

• Avoiding suspending loads over occupied areas
• Visibility
• Attaching/detaching securing loads
• The environment
• Location
• Overturning
• Proximity to other objects
• Lifting of people
• Pre-use checks of equipment

When introducing a piece of lifting equipment it must be thoroughly checked for any defect unless:

• The lifting equipment has not been used before
• An EC declaration of conformity (where one should have been drawn up) has been received or made not more than 12 months before the lifting equipment is put into service
• If it is obtained from another undertaking, it is accompanied by physical evidence of examination

It is important to keep a copy of all inspections for as long as the equipment is used for.

Where safety depends on the installation conditions, it should be thoroughly examined:

• After installation and before being put into service
• After assembly and before being put into service at a new site or in a new location to ensure that it has been installed correctly and is safe to operate

As before records should be kept for as long as the equipment is used.

When making an examination the competent person should:

• Notify the employer forthwith of any defect which, in their opinion is or has the potential to create a dangerous situation
• As soon as is practicable (within 28 days) write an authenticated report to:
• The employer
• Any person who hired or leased the lifting equipment

A copy also needs to be sent to the enforcing authority and the employer need to ensure that the equipment is not used until the situation has been rectified.