FEATURE
NON-COMPLIANCE IN LIFTING IS ON THE UP
Chris Chapman, Technical Support Manager for the BSG (Building Safety Group) discusses the implications of the reported 13% increase in the number of Lifting
Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulation (LOLER) non-compliances recorded during site inspections.
The Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) are set of regulations created under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which came into force in Great Britain on 5th December 1998 and replaced a number of other pieces of legislation that covered the use of lifting equipment.
LOLER apply to any lifting equipment used at work - including employees' own lifting equipment - for lifting or lowering loads, including attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting it. However, the Regulations do not extend to fixed anchor points that form part of a building or structure.
LOLER covers a wide range of equipment, including: • cranes • fork-lift trucks • lifts • hoists • mobile elevating work platforms • vehicle inspection platform hoists • lifting accessories, such as chains, slings, eyebolts etc.
Machinery and accessories for lifting loads must be clearly marked to indicate their safe working loads (SWL). Where the SWL depends on the configuration of the machinery for lifting loads, the machinery must be marked to indicate its SWL for each configuration, or provided with such information, which is kept with the machinery. On chain and wire slings, the SWL should be marked legibly and indelibly on a durable tag or label attached to the sling; or marked on the ferrule or master link.
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Where it may not be possible for the marking to show the SWL, there are other ways of 'indicating' the safe working criteria for the equipment. In some cases, a 'surrogate' marking may be acceptable, such as a capacity indicator on an excavator. However, colour coding alone to denote SWL is not normally acceptable, but can be a useful additional feature (eg of textile slings) and may be a key element in the marking of some equipment, such as access and rescue ropes.
Individual lifting accessories forming part of a specific item of lifting equipment (that is not disassembled after use and so remains part of that equipment), do not need to be marked. However, the lifting equipment must be marked with a SWL rating that is suitable for all items in its assembly.
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations require all lifting operations to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. Any equipment used must be properly designed, manufactured, tested and well maintianed. Any lifting equipment must be sufficiently strong, stable and suitable for the proposed use. Similarly, the load and anything attached (eg timber pallets, lifting points) must be suitable and positioned or installed to prevent the risk of injury from the equipment or the load falling and striking people. It should be visibly marked with any appropriate information to be taken into account for its safe use, eg safe working loads. Accessories, slings, clamps etc, should be similarly marked.
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