PUWER covers all work equipment and requires it to be suitable, maintained and inspected so it stays safe. LOLER sits on top of PUWER for lifting equipment and accessories, and adds a specific duty: thorough examination by a competent person — every 6 months for equipment used to lift people and for lifting accessories, and every 12 months for other lifting equipment, unless a written scheme of examination says otherwise.
What PUWER actually asks of you
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 apply to virtually anything you use at work — from a cordless drill to an excavator. The core duties are that equipment is suitable for the task, maintained in efficient working order, used only by people who have been trained, and fitted with the right guards and controls.
PUWER inspections are risk-based rather than on a fixed legal clock: you decide the interval from the manufacturer's guidance, the environment and how hard the equipment is worked, then you record it and stick to it.
What LOLER adds on top
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 apply where equipment is used for lifting or lowering loads, including the accessories that attach the load — slings, shackles, chains, eyebolts, beam clamps.
LOLER adds three things PUWER does not: lifting operations must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely; equipment must have a thorough examination at set intervals; and the examination reports must be kept and acted on.
The intervals people get wrong
- Every 6 months — lifting equipment used to lift people, and all lifting accessories.
- Every 12 months — other lifting equipment, such as a crane or hoist lifting loads only.
- At other intervals — where a written scheme of examination drawn up by a competent person specifies them.
- After exceptional circumstances — damage, a significant modification, a long period out of use, or reassembly at a new site.
Who counts as competent
A competent person for thorough examination must have the practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment to detect defects and judge their significance, and must be sufficiently independent and impartial to make an objective decision.
That is deliberately not the same person who maintains the kit day to day. Using your own fitter for the thorough examination is one of the findings enforcing inspectors pick up most often.
Records: what to keep and for how long
Keep the thorough examination report for each item, the maintenance and pre-use check records, and evidence that any defect reported was rectified. If a report identifies a defect that puts people at risk of serious injury, the competent person must notify the enforcing authority.
The practical version: one folder per item, in date order, retrievable in minutes. If you cannot produce the current report when asked, the equipment is treated as uninspected regardless of whether the examination happened.