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Health and Safety

What Is LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations)? Health and Safety Definition and How Teams Use It

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Quick Answer

LOLER is the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, the UK law covering equipment used to lift or lower loads and people, such as passenger lifts, cranes, hoists, and slings. It requires that lifting equipment is strong enough for the job, positioned and used safely, and given a thorough examination at set intervals by a competent person. Recording each examination and acting on any defect found is how organisations meet the duty and stay audit-ready.

What is LOLER?

LOLER stands for the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, a set of UK health and safety rules that apply wherever work equipment is used to lift or lower a load, including people. It covers a wide range of equipment, from passenger and goods lifts in buildings to cranes, hoists, telehandlers, vehicle tail lifts, and accessories such as chains and slings.

The core duties are that lifting equipment must be sufficiently strong and stable for its intended use, positioned and installed to reduce risk, marked with its safe working load, and subject to a thorough examination by a competent person at defined intervals. LOLER sits alongside PUWER, which covers work equipment more generally, and both are enforced under the wider Health and Safety at Work Act.

What LOLER compliance involves

In practice, LOLER compliance means keeping a register of every piece of lifting equipment, scheduling the required thorough examinations, and making sure each one is carried out on time by a competent person. Equipment used to lift people is examined at least every six months, other lifting equipment at least every twelve months, or in line with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person.

When an examination finds a defect, it must be recorded and acted on before the equipment is used again if the fault is serious. The examination reports and the record of any repairs form the evidence that the duty has been met, so being able to produce a complete, in-date history for every asset is central to staying compliant.

How Inspectly360 supports LOLER compliance

Inspectly360 holds each item of lifting equipment on an asset register with its safe working load, location, and examination schedule, and prompts the team before a thorough examination falls due. Examinations and interim checks run as mobile checklists with photo evidence and timestamps, so the record is captured at the point of work rather than written up later.

When a check finds a defect, a corrective action is raised with an owner and a due date and tracked to a verified closure, and managers see overdue examinations and open defects across every site on one dashboard. See the crane inspection software to run these examinations and keep a defensible LOLER record.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does LOLER stand for?

LOLER stands for the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, a set of UK health and safety regulations. They apply to any work equipment used for lifting or lowering loads, including equipment that lifts people, and to the accessories used with it such as chains, slings, and hooks. The regulations place duties on employers and anyone in control of lifting equipment to make sure it is suitable, strong enough, properly positioned, clearly marked with its safe working load, and thoroughly examined at set intervals by a competent person. People often use the word LOLER to mean the whole regime of registering lifting equipment, scheduling examinations, and keeping the records that prove each one was done.

How often does lifting equipment need a thorough examination under LOLER?

Under LOLER, lifting equipment used to lift people must be thoroughly examined at least every six months, and other lifting equipment and accessories at least every twelve months. Alternatively, examinations can follow an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, which may set different intervals based on how the equipment is used and the risk involved. The examination must be carried out by a competent person who is sufficiently independent and impartial to give an objective assessment. Equipment also needs examination after installation, after being reassembled at a new site, and following any event that could affect its safety, such as a major repair or a period of heavy or unusual use.

What is the difference between LOLER and PUWER?

PUWER, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, covers all work equipment and its general safe use, suitability, maintenance, and guarding, while LOLER adds specific extra requirements for equipment that lifts or lowers loads. In practice the two overlap: a crane or a passenger lift must meet PUWER as a piece of work equipment and also meet LOLER because it performs a lifting operation. LOLER is where the duties for safe working loads, planning of lifting operations, and thorough examination by a competent person come from. Most organisations manage both together, keeping one asset register and one schedule that captures PUWER inspections and LOLER thorough examinations for the same equipment, so nothing is missed.

Who can carry out a LOLER thorough examination?

A LOLER thorough examination must be carried out by a competent person, meaning someone with the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience to detect defects and assess how serious they are. Crucially, that person must be sufficiently independent and impartial to make an objective judgement, which is why the examination is often done by an external engineer surveyor rather than the person who operates or maintains the equipment day to day. The competent person decides whether the equipment is safe to continue in use, whether a defect needs attention within a set time, or whether use must stop immediately. Their written report is the formal record that the examination took place and what it found.

How does Inspectly360 help with LOLER compliance?

Inspectly360 helps organisations meet LOLER by keeping every piece of lifting equipment on an asset register with its safe working load, location, and examination schedule, then prompting the team before each thorough examination falls due. Interim checks and pre-use inspections run as mobile checklists with photo evidence and timestamps, so routine problems are caught between formal examinations. When a defect is found, the app raises a corrective action with an owner and a deadline and tracks it to a verified fix, and the competent person's examination reports can be stored against the asset. Managers see overdue examinations and open defects across every site on one dashboard, so an in-date, evidenced history is available for every lifting asset rather than scattered paper certificates.

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