Hoist and sling register for care homes, with QR tags

Quick answer. Give every hoist and every sling its own line in the register and its own ID. Record what it is, its serial number and safe working load, where it lives, which hoists each sling fits, the date of its last LOLER thorough examination, the date the next one is due (at least every 6 months for both, unless an examination scheme says otherwise), the examiner's report reference, and its status. Label slings with a tag on a cable tie, never sewn on. When an item fails, take it out of use, mark it out of service and keep it out of the store until it is repaired or scrapped.

A typical care home has a handful of hoists and several times as many slings. The hoists are easy to keep track of: they are big, they have a rating plate, and they live in the same rooms. The slings are the problem. They go through the laundry, move between floors, look alike, and the examiner's report lists them by a serial number that may have washed off months ago.

This post is about the register that keeps them straight. For the wider LOLER picture in care homes (which equipment is covered, pre-use checks, CQC), see LOLER for hoists and slings in care homes. For who keeps the reports when your examiner is a contractor, see LOLER hoist records when your examiner is a contractor.

Why a register, not a folder of reports

LOLER puts the duties on the employer, which in a care home means the provider. Regulation 11 requires the employer to keep the report of each thorough examination available for inspection, and a report from a periodic examination must be kept until the next report is made or for two years, whichever is later.

A folder of contractor PDFs meets the letter of that, but it answers the wrong question. The folder tells you what was examined on the day the examiner came. The register tells you what you own, and whether each item is in date today. If sling 14 was in the laundry on examination day, it is not in the report, and only a register shows the gap.

HSE says examination records do not need to be kept in hard copy, as long as you can provide a written copy when needed and the records are protected from unauthorised alteration (HSE, thorough examinations and inspections of lifting equipment).

The examination intervals

Regulation 9(3) of LOLER requires lifting equipment exposed to conditions that cause deterioration to be thoroughly examined:

• at least every 6 months for lifting equipment for lifting people, and for every lifting accessory;
• at least every 12 months for other lifting equipment;
• or in accordance with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person;
• and each time exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise its safety have occurred.

Regulation 9(1) also requires an examination before first use, with exceptions: equipment that has not been used before and has a declaration of conformity made no more than 12 months before it is put into service, and equipment that arrives from another business with physical evidence of its last thorough examination.

HSE's information sheet for health and social care, HSIS4, lists the equipment it treats as lifting equipment or accessories and needing a thorough examination at 6 months or less, or under a written scheme: mobile hoists, fixed and ceiling hoists, stand and raising aids, bath hoists, bath lifts, lifting platforms, stair lifts and slings. It also lists equipment that is not lifting equipment, such as profiling beds, standing transfer aids and riser recliner chairs, where PUWER's maintenance duties still apply. Those belong in your equipment register too, but not on the LOLER cycle.

So in practice, everything in a hoist and sling register runs on a 6-month cycle unless an examination scheme sets something else. Record which applies in the register, so nobody has to guess why one sling is on a different date.

What to record for each hoist

What to record for each sling

If a sling is kept for one resident, record it against the room number rather than the person's name. The register is an equipment record, and a resident's name on a label or a public scan page is personal data you do not need to expose.

Pairing slings with hoists

HSE warns that incompatibility of hoist and sling can result in insecure attachment between the two, and advises following the manufacturer's advice (HSE, moving and handling equipment). A register that only lists slings by size cannot answer the question the carer at the bedside is asking: does this sling go with this hoist?

Record compatibility on the sling, not in someone's head:

1. List each hoist's attachment type (loops or clips, the spreader bar).
2. For each sling, record the hoists it is compatible with, using the manufacturer's information.
3. Where a sling normally lives with one hoist, link it to that hoist so both show up together.

When a new hoist arrives, the compatibility column tells you which slings need checking against it before anyone uses them together.

Labelling slings without weakening them

HSE's advice on sling identification is specific (HSE, moving and handling equipment):

• manufacturers often label slings with a serial number, which can fade over time or in the laundry;
• writing on labels is acceptable, but permanent markers containing solvents such as xylene can weaken the fabric;
• labels should not be sewn onto the sling fabric or attachments;
• attaching another identifying label, for example with a robust cable tie, is acceptable.

A QR tag on a cable tie through a non-load-bearing part, as the manufacturer allows, fits that advice. It survives the wash better than ink on the fabric, and scanning it brings up the sling's record, including whether its examination is in date. On hoists, put the label on the mast or chassis where it is visible and away from the controls and the rating plate.

Taking failed kit out of use

LOLER is clear about what happens when an examiner finds a dangerous defect. Regulation 10 requires the examiner to notify the employer forthwith of any defect that is or could become a danger to people, and regulation 10(3) requires the employer to make sure the equipment is not used before the defect is put right (or, where the report sets a time, not after that time until it is put right).

The failure that catches homes out is not the decision to withdraw a sling. It is the sling coming back. A withdrawn sling goes into the laundry, comes back folded on the shelf, and is used the next morning. Some habits that stop that:

• Physically separate it. A marked bag or a locked cupboard for withdrawn kit, away from the clean store.
• Label it. A "do not use" tag on the item itself, with the date and the reason.
• Change its status in the register the same day. Out of service, with the defect and who reported it.
• Close the loop. Repaired and re-examined, or scrapped. A scrapped sling is marked retired, and its ID is never reused.
• Book the overdue ones. An item past its next-due date is treated the same way until it is examined.

Setting this up in Hovermarks

Hovermarks is an asset register with inspections built in, so the register above maps onto it directly:

• One asset per hoist and per sling, each with its own QR label. Print labels in bulk on A4 sheets or rolls; the small sizes suit a cable-tie tag.
• Slings as child assets of their hoist. Record other compatible hoists and the sling size in custom fields for the sling category.
• Serial number, manufacturer, model and safe working load on every record, plus the manual and each examiner's report as documents.
• A 6-month inspection schedule on each item, with reminders before it falls due. LOLER reports produced in Hovermarks are checked against Schedule 1 before they can be issued, and if your examiner is a contractor they can sign in with their own company's licence and record the examination straight onto your register.
• Out of service in one tap. A failed check raises a defect against that sling or hoist. Anyone who scans the label without signing in sees only the item's name, site and status (and its last and next examination dates if you switch the status panel on), so a carer can see at once that it must not be used, and can report a fault from the scan.
• Bring your spreadsheet. Import item names, tags, sites, categories, locations, status, serial numbers, make and model, safe working loads and key dates by CSV, then add the manuals and reports as documents.
• Know where a shared sling is. If slings or mobile hoists move between units, an admin can switch on equipment check-out: scan the label and check the item out to a unit or a member of staff, with a due-back date if you want one. Record a unit or room rather than a resident's name. The public scan never shows who has an item.

What it does not do: locations inside a site are free text rather than a building, floor and room tree, and it does not calculate depreciation. The asset management page sets out what each record holds.

Sources

Checked on 2 November 2026.

• LOLER 1998, regulation 9 (thorough examination and inspection), legislation.gov.uk
• LOLER 1998, regulation 10 (reports and defects), legislation.gov.uk
• LOLER 1998, regulation 11 (keeping of information), legislation.gov.uk
• HSE, Thorough examinations and inspections of lifting equipment (page updated 29 October 2024)
• HSE, Moving and handling in health and social care: moving and handling equipment (page updated 13 January 2026)
• HSE, How the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations apply to health and social care (HSIS4 rev1)

Related reading

• LOLER for hoists and slings in care homes
• LOLER hoist records when your examiner is a contractor
• Care home bed and bed rail register with QR tags
• LOLER register template
• What is an asset register?