Lifting Operations and Equipment Regulations
These Regulations put obligations on individuals and organizations that possess, work or have control over lifting equipment, which incorporates all organizations and companies whose employees does lifting operations, regardless of whether owned by them or not.
Most of the time, lifting equipment is similar to work gear, therefore the provision and use of work equipment regulations will apply (including inspection and maintenance). All lifting operations, including lifting equipment must be correctly planned by a qualified and competent technician, appropriately supervised and completed in a safe way.
Lifting Operations and Regulations requires that all equipment utilized for lifting is fit for purpose, appropriate for the nature of task, suitably stamped and subject to statutory regular ‘intensive examination’. Records must be kept of every single examination, and any imperfections found must be accounted for to both the individual in charge of the equipment and the related implementing authority.
If your company deals with lifting operations, or is involved in the provision or hiring out of lifting gear to other businesses to utilize, then you would need to be in a position to manage and control all dangers involved in a bid to avoid injury or damage.
When managing lifting operations involving lifting equipment, you always ought to:
- Device them properly
- Use personnel that is sufficiently competent
- Manage them properly
- Ensure that all procedures are undertaken in a safe manner
More particular legislation may also apply; for instance the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations, when safety gears are being utilized for rope access, works during tasks such as window cleaning.
Numerous associations also distribute guidance material on Lifting Operations and Equipment Regulations and its application in practice, which organizations may find helpful – a lot of which can be discovered utilizing standard web searches. Additionally, AJM Engineering offers such online blogs aimed at giving guidance and direction to help any individual who wishes to learn more about Lifting Operations and Equipment Regulations.