Professional Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineers in Barnet

Under LOLER, the responsibility lies with the dutyholder, who is a lift owner, facilities manager, or person responsible for the lift. If you are one of those, you are responsible for the safe operation of the lift. Basically, this means that you have a legal responsibility to ensure that the lift is thoroughly examined by a competent person at regular intervals and that it is safe to use.

No. Maintenance should not be confused with a thorough examination. Maintenance involves replacing worn or damaged parts, topping up fluid levels and making routine adjustments in order to ensure that risks are avoided. A thorough examination under LOLER, although it may overlap with certain aspects of maintenance work, is a safety inspection and risk assessment. It acts as a check that maintenance is being carried out properly and determines if the lift/lifting equipment is safe to use. It is to lifts/lifting equipment what an M.O.T. is to cars.

A thorough examination under LOLER is a systematic and detailed inspection of lifts/lifting equipment by a competent person to identify defects which are or may become dangerous. The competent person reports the findings of the examination to the dutyholder. If a defect is serious and significant, the competent person is legally required to send a copy of the report to the enforcing authority.

A LOLER examination has to take place at regular intervals. Generally every 6 months for passenger lifts/lifting equipment and 12 months for goods-only lifts and lifting equipment. However, there are exceptions, such as lifting accessories that require a LOLER inspection every 6 months, and plants that may be subject to a different inspection schedule, as determined by the competent person.

Records should be kept for 2 years after they are issued. It is advisable to keep records in hardcopy and softcopy format. They should be made available for the consideration of the health and safety inspector as and when required.