LOLER inspection checklist for care homes

Step 1: List all your lifting equipment

LOLER applies to any equipment used at work to lift loads, including people. In a care home that usually means:

• Mobile hoists and stand aids
• Ceiling track and gantry hoists
• Bath hoists and bath lifts (height-adjustable baths on their own aren't covered: PUWER applies instead)
• Slings and other lifting accessories, including spare slings and slings assigned to individual residents
• Passenger lifts, platform lifts and stairlifts (often examined by your lift maintenance contractor or insurer's engineer)

Give every item a unique ID. Without one, it's very hard to prove which report belongs to which hoist or sling.

Step 2: Know the examination intervals

These intervals come from regulation 9 of LOLER 1998. A competent person can draw up a written scheme of examination with different intervals, but most care homes stick to six months.

Step 3: Check what the examiner covers

A thorough examination of a hoist should cover at least:

• Structure: mast, boom, legs, chassis and spreader bar for cracks, deformation and corrosion
• Lifting mechanism: actuator, motor, strap or tape, operated under load
• Controls and safety systems: handset, emergency stop, emergency lowering and overload protection
• Power: battery and charger
• Mobility: castors and brakes
• Fixed systems: track, end stops, joints and fixings
• Slings: labels, stitching, webbing, loops and clips

Step 4: Get, and keep, the written report

After every thorough examination you should receive a written report for each item. Schedule 1 of LOLER lists what it must contain, including the equipment's identity, the date of the examination, any defects, and the date of the next examination. See what a LOLER report must include.

Keep each report until the next one is made, or for two years, whichever is later.

Step 5: Act on defects

If the examiner finds a defect:

1. Take the item out of use straight away if the report says it's unsafe, and label it so staff know.
2. Arrange the repair within any timescale given in the report.
3. Record what you did and when, alongside the report.
4. If the defect posed a risk of serious injury, the examiner must send a copy of the report to the enforcing authority. A good contractor handles this for you.

Step 6: Make pre-use checks routine

Between examinations, staff should check the hoist and sling before every use: charged, emergency functions working, no visible damage, the right sling, within examination dates. Build it into moving and handling training.

Step 7: Be ready for CQC

Under Regulation 15 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, equipment must be properly maintained and suitable for its purpose. Before an inspection, check that every hoist and sling in use has a current report, that defects have been acted on, and that nothing in use is overdue.

How Shepherd helps

We examine every hoist and sling in your home on one visit, tag each item, and send an electronic report you can share with inspectors and insurers. LOLER inspections start from £45 + VAT per hoist and sling inspections from £10 + VAT per sling.