All lifting equipment and accessories wear with use. Difficult environments make this worse, but even normal, constant use causes wear and damage that can lead to danger.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 set out detailed requirements for the maintenance and thorough examination of lifting equipment and accessories.

This module explains those requirements, as well as pre-use checks, maintenance and safe storage, so that you can play your part.

In this module, you will learn about:

• The legal requirements for examination and maintenance.
• What a thorough examination covers.
• Competent persons.
• How often thorough examinations are needed.
• Reports of thorough examinations.
• Hired equipment.
• Pre-use checks, maintenance and safe storage.

Safe lifting depends on equipment staying safe throughout its life. Employers must:

• Arrange regular thorough examinations of all lifting equipment and accessories, by a competent person.
• Arrange a thorough examination before equipment is first used, and after it is installed or assembled at a new site. For example, a tower crane must be examined after it is erected on a construction site, before it is used.
• Make sure examinations are reported and recorded, with reports available while the equipment is in use.
• Make sure any defects found are put right.

A thorough examination is a systematic and detailed examination of the equipment and its safety-critical parts. Most equipment has industry-standard procedures for it. A competent person may use:

• A visual examination of all visible parts.
• Functional checks for safe and correct operation.
• Measurements of wear, for example on wire ropes or pulleys.
• Non-destructive testing of some safety-critical parts.
• Load tests, for some equipment.
• Dismantling, to check internal parts.

Defects often found during a thorough examination include:

• Cracks and permanent deformation.
• Corrosion of vital fixed or moving parts, such as a crane jib.
• Excessive wear, for example on pulleys.
• Failure of moving parts, such as interlocks.
• Faulty safety switches.
• Serious misalignment of components.
• Slings of textile, chain or wire rope that are cut, worn, stretched, kinked or deformed.

Thorough examinations and inspections must be carried out by competent persons. A competent person has the right practical and theoretical knowledge, and experience, of the equipment to find defects or weaknesses, and judge how serious they are for its safety and continued use.

Larger companies and specialist lifting firms may employ their own competent persons, as long as they are independent enough to put safety first. Many businesses use competent persons from engineering insurers, independent inspection companies, or equipment suppliers.

• Before first use. Fixed equipment must be tested and examined first. New mobile equipment is exempt only if it carries the European conformity marking, has a Declaration of Conformity and the maker’s test certificate, and has not been dismantled since.
• After installation, and before first use, where safety depends on how the equipment is installed, as with cranes and hoists.
• After damage, or suspected damage, from use, weather or anything else.
• After a long period out of use, or after a change in use, such as moving from indoors to outdoors.

Safety devices, warning devices, load and radius indicators, and tyre pressures on mobile equipment should all be included.

After first use, the condition of lifting equipment and accessories deteriorates over time. They must be thoroughly examined at least:

• Every six months, for equipment used to lift people, and for all hoists and lifts, even those carrying only goods.
• Every six months, for all lifting accessories.
• Every twelve months, for all other lifting equipment.

Pallets and similar items that form part of the load do not usually need a thorough examination, but they should still be checked before each use.

When a competent person draws up an examination scheme instead of using the standard intervals, they base it on recognised industry standards and criteria for that type of equipment, and on the conditions it works in. The employer must make sure the full records of the scheme are available at the place where the lifting equipment is used, so that anyone checking the equipment can see when the next examination is due.

It also helps to know what falls outside thorough examination. Pallets, and similar items that carry materials but are not permanently attached to the lifting equipment, are treated as part of the load rather than as lifting equipment, so they do not usually need a thorough examination. That does not make them safe by default. Users must still look after them and inspect them each time, and a damaged pallet must never be lifted.

Some equipment is hazardous enough to need extra inspections between thorough examinations. The risk assessment, with help from a competent person, should identify which equipment needs them. Examples include:

• Limit switches on cranes.
• Gate interlocks on hoists.
• Forklift trucks.
• Hoists on construction sites.

Inspections are carried out by a competent person, or by trained employees, and can use simple checklists. Any defects must be reported to the employer and acted on.

The competent person must make a written report of every thorough examination. It must include:

• The name and address of the employer, and the address of the premises.
• Details that identify the equipment, and its date of manufacture if known.
• The date of the last thorough examination.
• The safe working load, or the safe working load for the configuration examined.
• Any defects found, and the repairs needed, with any tests carried out.
• The dates of the examination and the report.
• The name, address and qualifications of the person making the report.

The competent person must send the report to the employer as soon as reasonably practicable. A senior manager should read it, and make sure every action in it is carried out in the time stated.

If the competent person finds that repairs are needed, they must tell the owner and the user of the equipment in writing. Equipment with a serious defect must not be used until it is put right.

Where they advise that the equipment should stop being used immediately, they must also send a copy of the report to the Health and Safety Authority, or HSA, within twenty days of the examination.

Reports must be kept available where the equipment is used, for as long as it is there. Keep declarations of conformity and test certificates too.

When lifting equipment leaves your undertaking, which means anywhere you use it, it must be accompanied by physical evidence that its last thorough examination was carried out. In practice, a copy of the latest report should travel with the equipment.

Anyone who obtains lifting equipment from someone else must obtain the report of its last valid thorough examination.

When equipment is hired, both the hire company and the employer using it have responsibilities.

• Hire from a reputable company that can show competence in lifting equipment.
• The hire company must provide evidence of a valid thorough examination, or, for new mobile equipment, its Declaration of Conformity and the maker’s test certificate.
• The employer must make sure the current report is available where the equipment is used, that any defects have been fixed in time, and that equipment installed on site is examined before use.
• Reports must go to the employer and to the hire company.

Pre-use checks are carried out by operators before the equipment is used each working day, or at the start of each shift. Their purpose is to catch faults caused by day-to-day wear and tear early, and report them.

• Check that the equipment is safe, and that safety devices work.
• Look for damage to ropes, slings, shackles and other accessories.
• Record the check on a simple form, including any defects.
• Report defects straight away, and do not use the equipment until it is fixed or replaced.

Pre-use checks add to thorough examinations. They never replace them.

Wire rope slings can look sound at a glance, yet hide serious damage. Before each use, run your eye along the whole length in good light, wearing gloves to protect your hands. Withdraw the sling if you find a group of broken wires, a kink or a permanent bend, flattening or crushing, a bulge where the strands have opened out, sometimes called birdcaging, or the core poking through the outer strands.

Corrosion, pitting and signs of heat damage, such as discoloured wires, are also reasons to withdraw it. Pay particular attention to the ends: the ferrules, splices and eyes must not be cracked, slipped or distorted, and any thimble must be secure. Check that the label or tag showing the safe working load is present and legible. If you are unsure whether a sling is safe, do not use it. Set it aside and ask the competent person.

Webbing and round slings are easily damaged, so they need careful checking before every use. First, check the label. If it is missing or cannot be read, the sling must be withdrawn, because there is no way of knowing its safe working load. Then check the full length on both sides. Withdraw the sling if you find cuts or tears, worn or damaged edges, damaged stitching, knots, or areas that are hard, shiny, melted or discoloured, which can be signs of heat or friction damage.

Chemical damage may show as weakened, flaky or powdery fibres. On a round sling, the inner core must not show through the outer cover, and the sling should not feel lumpy. Check any metal end fittings for wear or distortion. Protect these slings from sharp edges with proper sleeves or edge protectors, and keep them away from heat and chemicals when they are stored.

Chain slings are robust, but they still wear and can be overloaded without anyone noticing. Before each use, check the whole sling with the chain laid out straight. Withdraw it if any link is stretched, bent, twisted, cracked, or has deep nicks or gouges. Stretched links can be a sign that the sling has been overloaded, and a chain that has stretched may not grip the hook properly.

Look for links that will not move freely against each other, and for heavy corrosion. Check the master link and any connecting links, and make sure the hooks are not opened or bent and their safety catches work. The chain grade and the safe working load should be marked on the tag. Never repair a chain by bolting links together, welding it, or joining it with a shackle. Any repair must be carried out by the manufacturer or a competent person. Store chain slings hanging on a rack, off the ground.

Under the work equipment rules, lifting equipment must be maintained so that it stays safe. Routine maintenance is different from a thorough examination, although an examination may show where maintenance is poor.

Ideally, maintenance should be done by someone other than the person who carries out the thorough examinations, but they still need the right knowledge and experience. Maintenance usually involves replacing worn or time-expired parts, lubrication, topping up fluids, and routine adjustments.

Equipment and accessories can deteriorate in storage, which weakens them and can reduce their safe working load. After use, store them in suitable conditions, such as on racks or in containers. Depending on the item, this may mean:

• A dry place, to prevent rust.
• Away from chemicals that could corrode them.
• Out of direct sunlight, and away from heat.
• Protected from rodents.

A defective sling or shackle that is put back on the rack will eventually be picked up by someone who does not know about the fault. As soon as a defect is found, the item must be taken out of use, clearly tagged as defective, and placed in a quarantine area, such as a locked cage or a marked bin, apart from equipment in use. Record it in the accessory register, so that everyone knows it is missing from service and why.

A competent person then decides whether it can be repaired, and by whom, or whether it must be scrapped. Items that cannot be repaired should be destroyed so that they can never return to use. For example, synthetic slings are cut through, and chains or fittings are cut or crushed. Never throw a defective accessory into a general waste skip where someone might rescue it. Replacements must come with their own certificate before use.