LOLER 1998 explained — what UK duty-holders need to know

The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 — usually abbreviated LOLER — are the UK statutory instrument that governs the safe use of lifting equipment at work. They implement the EU Work Equipment Directive into UK law and sit alongside PUWER 1998 (the broader Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations). For any UK business that lifts loads — whether with an overhead crane, a jib, a forklift, a spreader beam, a chain block or a simple lifting strap — LOLER almost certainly applies.

Who it applies to

LOLER applies to employers, the self-employed, and people with control of lifting equipment in a work setting. The duties land on the duty-holder — the employer or operator — not the manufacturer or supplier. Buying compliant equipment doesn’t discharge your LOLER obligations; how you use and maintain it does.

The four core obligations

1. Strength and stability. Equipment must be sufficiently strong and stable for each load it lifts. Every load path — crane, spreader, rigging, load — has to stand up to the worst intended case.
2. Positioning and installation. Lifting equipment must be positioned or installed to minimise risk to the load, operators and bystanders.
3. Marking. Every item must be clearly marked with its Safe Working Load (SWL) or Working Load Limit (WLL), and — for lifting people — suitable for the task and marked accordingly.
4. Organisation of lifting operations. Every lift must be planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out safely. The “lift plan” concept comes from here.

Thorough examination

The duty that sets LOLER apart in practice is thorough examination — a structured inspection by a competent person at statutory intervals:

• Every 6 months for lifting equipment used to lift people, and for lifting accessories (slings, hooks, shackles, spreader beams, tongs).
• Every 12 months for lifting equipment used to lift goods only (overhead cranes, jib cranes, vehicle lifts).
• In accordance with a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, where use or environment justifies different intervals.
• After substantial modification, repair or return to service — a fresh examination is required regardless of scheduled cycle.

The thorough examination produces a written report that the duty-holder keeps in their statutory records. Reports must be available for HSE inspection on demand.

Who is a “competent person”

LOLER requires the examination to be carried out by a competent person — someone with practical and theoretical knowledge of the specific equipment type and experience detecting defects and assessing their significance. In practice this is either an experienced in-house lifting engineer or a third-party inspector. LEEA membership is a useful, though not mandatory, indicator.

Relationship to PUWER, BS EN 13155 and LEEA 059

• PUWER 1998 is the broader regulation covering all work equipment. Lifting equipment falls under both PUWER and LOLER.
• BS EN 13155 is the harmonised UK/EU design-and-manufacture standard for non-fixed load lifting attachments (spreader beams, tongs, clamps). It’s the reference point for design; LOLER is the reference point for in-service use.
• LEEA 059 is industry guidance from the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association that sits alongside the formal standards.

In short

LOLER is about how lifting equipment is used and maintained in service, not how it’s designed. Buying well-engineered equipment is the starting point; the duty-holder’s ongoing job is to plan lifts properly, document them, and keep the equipment thoroughly examined on the right interval.

At Somers Handling we design and manufacture to the standards that feed LOLER compliance, and offer LOLER thorough-examination and servicing contracts as part of our repairs, servicing and modernisation service.