Legislation & Standards

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

The Legislative Framework

Old Legislation
The Factories Act 1961
The Construction (Lifting Operations)
Regulations 1961
The Shipbuilding and Ship-Repairing
Regulations 1960
The Docks Regulations 1988
The Offshore Installations(Operational
Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations
1976 (known as SI 1019)

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

I Have Always Done It This Way.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

The Legislative Framework

Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974

general in nature
no reference to specific articles or substances
applies to all sectors

applies to
manufacturers/suppliers of articles or substances
Employers
employees
umbrella Act for specific regulations

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

The Health And Safety at Work Etc

Act 1974
The Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 makes goal setting requirements and
places duties on everyone at work to ensure health and safety.
Written in broad terms it supports the aims of all health and safety legislation. It
therefore remains in place as a long stop, bringing all of the other regulations
together under its umbrella.
Although the Act is extensive we need only consider three of the 85 Sections this
contains and will therefore look at Sections 2, 6, 7 and 8

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Health and Safety at Work Act

Section 2
Employers general duty
Duty to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and
welfare at work of all his employees
1. Safe plant and systems of work
2. Safe use, handling, storage and transportation of articles and substances
3. Information, instruction, training and adequate supervision
4. Safe place of work and a safe means of access and egress
5. Safe working environment and adequate welfare facilities

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Manual Handling Operations

Regulations 1992
1. Regulations refer directly to lifting operations and add to the employers duties in
Section 2 of the Act.
2. Require an assessment to be made of any operation where loads are handled
manually, or where manual effort is necessary, with a view to reducing the
number of injuries that result from such operations.
3. Require the introduction of lifting appliances where the risks are high or if the
operation can be made safer by their introduction.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Health and Safety at Work Act

Section 6
Places specific duties on the designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers such
people must:
Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that articles they design, constructed, make,
import, supply etc. are safe and without risk to health at all times e.g. when it is being
set up, cleaned, used or maintained by someone at work
Carry out or arrange such testing and examination necessary to perform the duties
above
Ensure that those supplying the item have adequate information about its designed
and tested use. This includes essential conditions for dismantling and disposal
Act to ensure that those supplied are given updated information where it becomes
known that the item gives rise to serious risk to H&S

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Health and Safety at Work Act

Section 7
Duty of Employees at Work
States that employees must not endanger themselves, or others, by their acts or
omissions.
Employees must co-operate with their employers - as long as this does not lead to
an increased risk to health and safety, or is an illegal act - so that employers can
comply with their statutory duties.
This makes responsibility for safety a joint employer-employee effort.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Health and Safety at Work Act

Section 8
States that no person (ie not just employees) shall knowingly, intentionally or
recklessly misuse, abuse or interfere with anything provided in the interests of health
and safety.
Machine safeguards clearly fall under this section.
It therefore follows that:
should any member of staff be found to be interfering with these
devices, and they have been provided with the necessary information, training and
adequate supervision to use the machine correctly, disciplinary action should follow.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Use PPE Provided By Your Employer

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Management of Health and Safety

at Work Regulations 1999
These regulations modify both Section 2 and Section 7 of the Act.
Underline the requirements for employers to provide instruction and training.
Must ensure that their personnel are properly trained to use any equipment
necessary in the course of their work.
The regulations also place an obligation on employees to undergo such training and
follow the instructions given by their employer.
Operatives are required to only use equipment for which they are trained and to
use it in the manner and for the purpose for which they have been trained

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Only Use Equipment In The Way In Which

You Have Been Trained

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

The Machinery Directive

A European CE Directive concerned with the mechanical and electrical safety of

machines .
The Machinery Directive is largely based on Risk Assessment and use of EU Standards
for critical features such as guards and emergency stops.
Adopted by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries so it is common in
law throughout Greater Europe.
Implemented by the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

The Machinery Directive

Section four of the Machinery Directive give the essential safety requirements
to be met in addressing the hazards of a lifting operation.
It requires the responsible person to: Issue an EC Declaration of Conformity

Mark the item with the CE mark

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Terms in the Machinery Directive: Lifting Accessories, generally what used to be called lifting tackle or lifting gear.
Lifting Equipment, which means the lifting machine including its supporting
structure, anchorages and fixings.
Coefficient of Utilisation or Working Coefficient, simply means factor of safety*
*(Ratio of the test load or applied force applied to the lifting equipment relevant to
its SWL)

PUWER and LOLER

PUWER: Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
applies to all work equipment
LOLER: Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998
applies to lifting equipment in addition to PUWER
Both LOLER and PUWER apply to all sectors of industry
Status of PUWER and LOLER
United Kingdom : Legal requirement
Elsewhere : Good practice demanded by customers
and local authorities

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Use Equipment In The Way

It Was Intended

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

LOLER Key Regulations

Regulation 4

Strength and stability

Regulation 5

Lifting equipment for lifting persons

Regulation 6

Positioning and installation

Regulation 7

Marking of lifting equipment

Regulation 8

Organisation of lifting operations

Regulation 9

Thorough examination and inspection

Regulation 10

Reports and defects

Regulation 11

Keeping of information

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment

Regulations (LOLER)
Regulation 7
Requires all lifting equipment to be marked with its SWL and information that gives
the items characteristics, e.g. Grade, angle of use etc.

Regulation 9
Gives the requirements for a thorough examination. It calls for all lifting equipment
to be thoroughly examined before it is used for the first time.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment

Regulations (LOLER)
Regulation 10 refers to the retention of reports and reporting of defects.
A defect presenting an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury found
during a thorough examination must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive
(enforcing authority)
The law does not specify the WLL or SWL of lifting equipment or how this is to be
expressed or marked.
However standards may so a sling can be marked at any included angle within the
permitted range.

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment

Regulations (LOLER)
Maximum fixed periods for thorough examinations and inspection of lifting
equipment as stated in regulation 9 of LOLER are: Lifting accessories

6 months

Lifting equipment

12 months

Man-Riding Equipment

6 months

The information to be contained in the report of thorough examination is given

in schedule 1 of LOLER

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

PUWER Key Regulations

Regulation 4

Suitability of work equipment

Regulation 5

Maintenance

Regulation 6

Inspection

Regulation 7

Specific risks

Regulation 8

Information and instructions

Regulation 9

Training

Provision and Use of Work

Equipment Regulations (PUWER)
Apply to all equipment which is used by an employee at work and must be complied
with even though more specific regulations may apply.
Contains requirements for maintenance (Regulation 5).
Equipment entering work place must comply with relevant directives.
Regulations require that equipment provided for use at work is:
Suitable for the intended use
Safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and, in certain circumstances,
inspected to ensure this remains the case
Used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction
and training
Accompanied by suitable safety measures, eg protective devices, markings
and warnings

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Summary of the Key Requirements of

PUWER
PUWER requires employer to address risks or hazards of equipment from all
dates of manufacture and supply.
Equipment first provided for use after 31st December 1992 must comply with
any essential requirements
Equipment may still present a hazard or risk if: application different from that
originally envisaged safety depends upon the way it is installed technical
mismatch between the supply side and user side legislation
How does the employer checks if the equipment complies?
look for the CE marking
obtain the EC declaration of conformity

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Codes of Practice
There are various types of Codes of Practice :

Approved Codes of Practice

Recommended Code of Practice

Trade or Professional Code of Practice

Technical Publications

Safety Information sheets

Most modern legislation is published with an approved code of practice eg

LOLER, PUWER etc

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Codes of Practice
Status of the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP)
Special status known as Quasi-legal
An ACOP is a step down from the regulations
The requirements are not absolute
Normally be expected to follow them
Provide a benchmark against which a court may judge alternatives

Lifting Equipment Engineers Association 2010

Guidance Notes
Status of the Guidance
Guidance is another step down in status
Does not have a special status in law
The guidance is not compulsory
If you follow the guidance you will normally do enough to comply with
the law
Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to
this guidance as illustrating good practice.

Standards
A published specification that establishes a common language, and contains a
technical specification or other precise criteria.
Designed to be used consistently, as a rule, a guideline, or a definition.
Applied to many materials, products, methods and services. They help make life
simpler and increase the reliability and effectiveness of goods and services.
They are designed for voluntary use and do not impose any regulations, but laws may
refer to a certain standard making compliance with them compulsory.

BS (British Standards, used mainly in the UK)

ISO Standards (International standard)
EN (Euronorm, used throughout Europe)
CEN/CENELEC (Euronorm) Standards

Harmonised European Standards

Harmonised European Standards have the following quasi legal status;
If you comply with a Harmonised European Standard, you are deemed to
comply with the Essential Health and Safety Requirements (EHSR) of the
Machinery Directive in so far as the standard addresses them
In other words the:- Directives would state the legal objectives (EHSRs) to be met.
Harmonised Standards would identify the technical means to meet these legal
Objectives and they are one way of meeting the EHSRs
They are never intended to be mandatory, however compliance with them does give a
presumption of conformity.
Working to Harmonised Standards is the easiest way for a manufacturer to demonstrate they
are meeting legal requirements imposed by the Directive.

Standards
National and International Standards:
No special legal status but represent the best agreed practice
European and International Standards:
Wherever possible, are adopted as British Standards and dual or triple numbered by
adding the appropriate prefix, eg BS EN ####, BS ISO ####, BS EN ISO ####
More recent standards, particularly International Standards (ISO), Harmonised
European Standards (EN) and dual or triple numbered British Standards generally
take the form of performance standards.
Allows the manufacturer to specify within limits many details of the product such as
materials and dimensions
Some British Standards take the form of recommended Codes of Practice covering the
use, maintenance or application of specific products

Uniformity of Measurement
(length & weight)
In the imperial system a ton is divided into 20 subdivisions know as a hundredweight
(cwt) and 1 cwt = 50 kg
To convert this to a decimal we can divide the cwt figure by 2 to arrive at multiples of
100kg (expressed to the nearest whole number)
For example: - 2 cwt = 0.1t or 100kg 1 ton 2 cwt = 1.1t or 1100kg

For the conversion of length we use the following: 1 inch = 25.4 mm

10 feet = 3 metres (actually 9.84 feet)

Getting Weights and

Measurements Right!!

Any Questions