What a LOLER report must include

Certificate or report?

There's no such thing as a "LOLER certificate" in the Regulations. After a thorough examination, regulation 10 of LOLER 1998 requires the competent person to make a written report, and Schedule 1 lists what that report must contain. If you've been given a sticker or a one-line certificate with no detail, it may not meet the requirements.

What Schedule 1 requires

A report of thorough examination must include:

1. The name and address of the employer for whom the examination was made.
2. The address of the premises where the examination took place.
3. Details to identify the equipment, including its date of manufacture if known.
4. The date of the last thorough examination.
5. The safe working load of the equipment, or its safe working loads in different configurations.
6. What kind of examination it was (the first after installation, a periodic examination within six or twelve months, under a written scheme, or after exceptional circumstances such as damage) and whether the equipment would be safe to operate.
7. Any defect that is, or could become, a danger to people, with the details.
8. Any repair, renewal or alteration needed to fix it, and the date by which it must be done for defects that could become dangerous.
9. Details of any test carried out.
10. The date of the next thorough examination.
11. The date of the examination, and the name, address and qualifications of the person making the report, and their employer if they're employed.
12. The name and address of a person signing or authenticating the report on behalf of its author.

Electronic reports are fine, as long as they can be authenticated and printed if needed.

When a report lists a defect

If the examiner finds a defect involving an existing or imminent risk of serious injury, LOLER requires them to:

• Tell you straight away, so you can take the equipment out of use, and
• Send a copy of the report to the enforcing authority, which for most care homes is the HSE or the local authority.

You must not use the equipment again until the defect has been put right. For defects that could become dangerous in future, the report will give a date by which the repair must be done.

How long to keep LOLER reports

Making reports easy to use

A pile of paper reports is hard to check before an inspection. Ask for reports that identify each item by a unique asset number, show the next due date clearly, and are available electronically, so you can see at a glance what's due and what's failed.

Every Shepherd LOLER examination produces a report for each hoist and sling that meets Schedule 1, tied to a barcode on the item through our asset tagging.