SiteThe report lands on a Thursday afternoon. It's a PDF from the examiner, 30 pages, one page per truck, hoist and sling. Someone in the office saves it to the shared drive and ticks "LOLER done" on the compliance sheet.
On page 17 there's a line about the lift chain on reach truck 4. Worn past limits. Replace within one month.
Nobody reads page 17. Six weeks later, reach truck 4 is still doing nights.
Sites rarely miss the exam. They miss what the report tells them to do. A report in a drawer protects nobody, and the law expects you to act on it.
Is it lifting equipment?
LOLER defines lifting equipment as "work equipment for lifting or lowering loads". That includes the parts that anchor, fix or support it. An accessory for lifting is anything for attaching loads to machinery for lifting (regulation 2).
On a factory or warehouse floor that catches more than people think. The LOLER code of practice lists lift trucks, telehandlers, scissor lifts, MEWPs, cranes and goods lifts. It also lists high lift pallet trucks that can raise the forks above 300mm* (L113, paragraph 28). Accessories include slings, removable eyebolts, chains, shackles, lifting beams and spreaders (L113, paragraph 29).
Some kit sits outside. Many conveyor systems, and simple pallet trucks that only lift the load clear of the floor, come under PUWER instead (HSE, LOLER overview). Pallets and skips count as part of the load.
Six months or twelve
The intervals live in regulation 9. Kit exposed to conditions that cause deterioration must be thoroughly examined at least every 6 months* if it lifts people or is an accessory. Everything else is at least every 12 months*. The other option is an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person (regulation 9).
So the scissor lift your fitters use to reach the sorter is on 6 months*. So is every sling and shackle in the stores cage. The counterbalance truck is on 12*, unless a scheme says otherwise.
A scheme can set longer or shorter gaps. A longer one "must be based on a rigorous assessment of the risks" (INDG422). If your scheme stretches the gap, ask to see that assessment.
Then there are the exams that aren't on a calendar. New kit needs one before first use, unless it has a declaration of conformity less than 12 months* old and wasn't assembled on site. Kit whose safety depends on how it's installed needs one after installation, and again after assembly at each new location. And everything needs one after exceptional circumstances. That means damage or failure, long periods out of use, or major changes like modifications or replacing critical parts (HSE, thorough examinations).
That last one catches sites out. A truck with a new mast chain after a breakdown. A hoist that's sat idle since the line was mothballed. Talk to your examiner before either goes back to work.
Three checks, three jobs
There are three kinds of check. Sites mix them up.
The pre-use check belongs to the operator. Forks, chains, hydraulics, the label and stitching on the sling. L113 calls the operator "the first line of defence". It also says these checks are not the same as maintenance or a thorough examination (L113, paragraphs 288 and 289).
Inspections sit between exams where the risk calls for them, usually on machinery like cranes and trucks. They're normally visual and functional checks, often weekly, monthly or quarterly. Slings and chains don't usually need one, as long as they get a proper pre-use check and their exam on time (INDG422).
The thorough examination is "a systematic and detailed examination" by a competent person, to find defects that are or might become dangerous. It doesn't replace maintenance. The same leaflet tells you not to wait for the exam before you maintain the kit.
Here's our view. If the examiner keeps finding faults your fitters should have found, look hard at your PPM. L113 agrees. Defects that are habitually missed until the exam point to "inadequacies in management systems" (L113, paragraph 362).
Forklifts: two sets of rules
Most sites get forklifts half right. The LOLER exam covers the lifting parts, such as the chains and forks. Brakes, lights and the rest of the truck fall under a PUWER inspection. Maintenance of the whole truck is a PUWER duty too (INDG422). If one person is competent under both sets of rules, the two can be done together (L113, paragraph 340).
So check what you're paying for. A LOLER exam on its own covers the mast. It tells you nothing about the brakes.
Who can sign it off
The competent person needs enough practical and theoretical knowledge of the kit to spot defects and judge how much they matter (L113, paragraph 296). They don't have to come from outside. In-house is fine if they have "genuine authority and independence" to make the call "without fear or favour" (L113, paragraph 297).
The catch is maintenance. The examiner should not normally be the person who does routine maintenance on that kit, unless the risk to others is low. If you do use the same person, your risk assessment should show why. The maintenance should then be done after the exam (L113, paragraphs 298 and 299).
We'd keep the two jobs apart. Asking a fitter to examine the truck they serviced last week puts them in a bad spot. And you're the one who answers for it.
Read the report the day it lands
Schedule 1 of LOLER lists 11 items* every report must contain (Schedule 1). These are the ones to read first:
- each part with a defect that is or could become a danger, and what the defect is
- the repair, renewal or alteration needed to fix it
- for a defect that isn't dangerous yet, the time by which it could become so
- the latest date for the next exam
- the safe working load, and details of any test
The examiner must tell you straight away about a dangerous defect. The written report follows as soon as practicable (regulation 10). L113 says that should normally be within 28 days* of the exam (L113, paragraph 359). Once you've been told, the kit can't be used until the defect is put right. If the report gives a time limit, it can't be used after that time unless it's fixed.
Where a defect involves "an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury", the examiner must also send a copy to the enforcing authority. That's HSE if the kit is hired or leased. Otherwise it's the authority for the premises. The copy still goes even if the defect is fixed on the spot (INDG422), and the authority may follow it up (HSE, thorough examinations).
So every defect line needs an owner and a date. Put it in the CMMS or on the job board the same day, with the report's deadline on it. If the date passes and the job's still open, the truck parks.
Keep it where you can find it
Reports from in-service exams are kept until the next report, or for two years*, whichever is later. A first-use report is kept until you stop using the kit, or for two years* if it's an accessory (regulation 11). Electronic is fine, as long as it's protected from unauthorised changes and you can print a written copy (L113, paragraph 373).
Hired kit must come with evidence of its last exam (regulation 9). Check the date before the truck comes off the low loader.
What to do on Monday
- Pull every open defect from your last LOLER reports. Give each one an owner and a date.
- Check every sling, shackle and scissor lift is on a 6-month* cycle or a written scheme.
- Ask who examines your trucks and who services them. If it's the same person, write down why.
- Check each forklift has a PUWER inspection as well as its LOLER exam.
* Examination intervals, the 300mm pallet truck figure, the 12-month declaration of conformity window, the 28-day report guide, the 11 Schedule 1 items and record-keeping periods correct as of 26 September 2026. Check LOLER on legislation.gov.uk and HSE's thorough examination page for the latest. Paragraph numbers refer to L113, second edition (2014, amended 2018).