When it comes to working on site there are many different aspects of legislation that you must adhere to, whether you are the person responsible for hiring heavy lifting equipment, managing the personnel and contractors on site, or you are in charge of the entire project. Health and safety with regards to heavy lifting is always one of the most important aspects of a site to take care of, especially when you consider some of the heavy materials and equipment that must be lifted in a very specific manner in some cases. This is down to making sure that items on site are moved effectively in order to ensure a smooth continuation of tasks, but also to keep staff and passers-by as safe as possible at all times.
Legislation was updated in 1998 with regards to heavy lifting on site, and all construction sites and workplaces where heavy lifting is a requirement must adhere to this. Here, we take a look at the requirements of this legislation – Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).
This regulation was devised to cover any equipment that is used in a workplace in order to perform the actions of lifting or lowering loads. This includes any and all attachments that are used to support the operation, to fix it in place, or to anchor it, and covers a wide range of heavy lifting equipment including:
- Forklift trucks
- Lifts
- Hoists
- Cranes
- Vehicle inspection platform hoists
- Mobile elevating work platforms
And accessories for heavy lifting equipment, such as:
- Slings
- Eyebolts
- Chains
Escalators are not covered by LOLER, instead being extensively covered in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The regulations should also be complied if you allow contractors and employees on site to provide their own lifting equipment.
Those that must adhere to LOLER are any employer or self-employed person that provides lifting equipment for use in a workplace environment. It also applies to those in charge of, or in control of the use of the lifting equipment in a workplace. If you provide lifting equipment to be used by the general public, you are not obliged to adhere to these regulations. With a shopping centre lift for example, covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act).
The regulations cover those workplaces where the HSW Act applied. So, expect to be covered by these regulations in workplaces as varied as offices, retail environments, hospitals, hotels, construction sites, and offshore installations.
Working with heavy lifting equipment on site is important, so it is vital that you work with a heavy lifting equipment supplier with a track record of high levels of safety, high quality of equipment, and expert advice and guidance that can help you through a project from start to finish. It is important that health and safety is at the forefront of every project you work on, and with the correct supplier of lifting equipment you can go some way to building and maintaining high levels of health and safety on site when discussing any type of heavy lifting task and process.
