LOLER for patient hoists and slings: who keeps the records when your examiner is a contractor?

Quick answer. Patient hoists, and every sling, need a LOLER thorough examination at least every 6 months, unless a competent person's examination scheme sets other intervals. Each examination produces a report with the information in Schedule 1, including the date the next one is due and any defect that is or could become a danger. In most care homes the examiner is an outside contractor, but the duty to keep the report is the home's. HSE accepts electronic records, as long as they are protected from unauthorised alteration and you can produce a written copy when needed.

A care home with a dozen hoists and forty slings deals with the same examiner twice a year, and usually with several other contractors in between. Each one sends a PDF, or keeps the records in their own system. This post sets out what LOLER asks for, and how to keep one register of it in your own hands.

The short answer: every 6 months for hoists and slings

HSE's guidance on thorough examinations of lifting equipment says that, unless there is an examination scheme specifying other intervals, thorough examinations should be carried out every:

• 6 months, for lifting equipment and any associated accessories used to lift people;
• 6 months, for all lifting accessories;
• 12 months, for all other lifting equipment.

In a care home that puts mobile hoists, ceiling track hoists, bath hoists, stand and raising aids, and every sling on the 6-month cycle. A sling is a lifting accessory in its own right, so it needs its own examination and its own entry in the report, separate from the hoist it hangs on. Our guide to LOLER for hoists and slings in care homes goes through which equipment is covered, pre-use checks and sling labelling.

What the report must contain

Regulation 10 requires a written report of every thorough examination, and Schedule 1 lists what it must contain. HSE says there is no set format, as long as all 11 items are included. In plain English, the report should tell you:

• who the examination was for, and the address of the premises;
• what was examined, in enough detail to identify it, with its date of manufacture where known, and its safe working load;
• the date of the last thorough examination;
• why this examination was done: first use after installation, the 6 or 12-month interval, an examination scheme, or exceptional circumstances;
• any defect that is or could become a danger to people, and the repair it needs; for a defect that isn't dangerous yet, when it could become so;
• the latest date by which the next thorough examination must be carried out;
• details of any test that formed part of the examination;
• the date of the examination and the date of the report;
• the name, address and qualifications of the person making the report, and whether they are self-employed or, if not, the name and address of their employer;
• the name and address of anyone who signs or authenticates the report on their behalf.

Our LOLER report template sets out all of the Schedule 1 fields, and the eleven Schedule 1 particulars explains each one.

Defects can't wait for the report. Under regulation 10, an examiner who finds a defect that is or could become a danger to people must tell the employer straight away, and then follow up in writing. Where the defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, the examiner must also send a copy of the report to the enforcing authority (HSE or the local authority) as soon as practicable. The employer must then make sure the equipment isn't used until the defect is put right.

Why the examiner is usually from outside

HSE says the competent person needs enough practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment to detect defects and assess how important they are. They should be sufficiently independent and impartial for in-house examinations to be made "without fear or favour". And they should not be the same person who carries out the routine maintenance, because they would then be assessing their own maintenance work.

Many care homes have nobody in-house who meets all of that, so they bring in an outside examiner. That is sound practice, and it is also where the records start to drift away from the home.

Electronic records are allowed

HSE is clear that "examination and inspection records do not need to be kept in hard copy form". Two conditions come with that: you should be able to provide a written copy when necessary, and "the records should also be protected from unauthorised alteration".

In practice that means keeping each report as it was issued, knowing who can change what in your system, and being able to print or send a copy when an inspector, insurer or commissioner asks. How long to keep each report is set by regulation 11; our post on LOLER record keeping has the retention periods.

The multi-contractor problem

The duty to keep the report sits with the employer who uses the equipment, not with the examiner. Yet look at how the records arrive in a typical home:

• the hoist and sling examiner, every 6 months, often with the hoist supplier's service visits in between;
• an electrical contractor, if you use portable appliance testing to keep electrical equipment safe (HSE notes that the law doesn't make PAT testing a legal requirement, or require it annually; the duty is to keep equipment that could cause injury maintained in a safe condition, and its PAT FAQ explains the choices);
• fire alarm, emergency lighting and extinguisher servicers.

Each sends a PDF by email, or keeps the record in their own portal. The home's register becomes an inbox, a binder and a spreadsheet that somebody updates when they remember. The questions an inspector asks are simple: show me the last examination of this hoist, when is the next one due, and what happened about the defect on the last report. They are slow to answer when the evidence is split across three contractors' systems. If a contract ends, the history can leave with the contractor.

How it works in Hovermarks

Hovermarks turns that round, so the records live in the home's account and the contractors come to them.

• The register is yours. Each hoist and sling has its own record and QR tag in your Hovermarks account, with its examination history and next due date.
• Your examiner signs in with their own company's licence. You invite them as a Contractor and tick the sites they may work at. Once their company is on a paid Hovermarks plan, their own licence covers the work they do for you, so they don't use one of your seats. While their company is on a free trial, you assign them one of your licences, or they upgrade.
• Their name and company are on the record. Each examination they carry out shows the inspector as, for example, "Sam Taylor (Example Lifting Ltd)" on the inspection page and the PDF report. On the LOLER report, their company is named as their employer, with its address (or "Self-employed", if they are).
• Staff can check a hoist at the hoist. Signed-in staff scan the tag to open its record and next due date. If you switch on the public status panel, anyone who scans it sees when it was last examined and when the next examination is due, but not the result.
• If the examiner's plan lapses, their access is paused and the records stay. Your Users page shows that their access is paused. Nothing they recorded leaves your account.
• Their checklists, your decision. An examiner can share their own checklist with you. Your Admin or a Site Manager approves or declines it, and an approved checklist is copied into your account for you to keep.

What it doesn't change: the examiner is still responsible for the examination and what the report says, and the duties under LOLER stay with the employer. Hovermarks keeps the record in one place you control.

Checklist: what to ask your examiner

Before the next visit, ask:

1. Which items will you examine, and on what interval: 6 months, or an examination scheme? If there is a scheme, can we have it in writing?
2. Will every sling get its own entry, identified by its own ID?
3. If you find a dangerous defect, how will you tell us on the day, and who at the home should you call?
4. Will each report include all the Schedule 1 information, including the latest date for the next examination and your employer's name and address?
5. Who maintains our hoists, and are you independent of that work?
6. In what form will we receive the records, and can we produce a written copy on request?
7. Will you record your examinations in our own account, so the history stays with us?

Use the LOLER due date checker to work out the next date for any item, and keep the register with our free LOLER register template if you are not ready for software yet.

Next steps

Care homes: start a trial and invite your examiner. You pay for your own team's licences as usual; an examiner on their own company's paid licence doesn't use one of your seats.

Examiners and hoist engineers: set up your company and work for every home from one sign-in, with your company's name on every examination.

Sources

• HSE, Thorough examinations and inspections of lifting equipment
• HSE, Portable appliance testing: frequently asked questions
• LOLER 1998, regulation 9 (thorough examination and inspection), regulation 10 (reports and defects), regulation 11 (keeping of information) and Schedule 1