PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998, UK wide
Machinery Safety, PUWER and LOLER
Machinery injuries are rarely caused by unknown hazards. They come from a guard removed for a blockage, a defeated interlock, a lift accessory nobody examined or a used machine bought without paperwork. AL23 Safety assesses work equipment and lifting equipment against PUWER and LOLER for clients UK wide.
What is a PUWER and LOLER assessment?
Two sets of duties on the same shop floor, checked properly
A PUWER assessment asks whether each piece of work equipment is suitable, maintained, adequately guarded, correctly controlled and used by trained people. A LOLER assessment looks at lifting equipment and accessories, at how lifts are planned and at whether thorough examination happens at the right frequency.
Most sites hold both at once. A gantry crane is work equipment under PUWER and lifting equipment under LOLER. Treating them as one exercise closes the gap where the machine is well guarded and the sling holding the load has never been examined.
Who needs one
If you provide equipment for work, PUWER applies to you
- Manufacturers, food producers, engineering workshops and print sites running fixed and portable machinery.
- Warehouses and depots operating lift trucks, dock levellers, tail lifts and goods lifts.
- Construction and maintenance operations using cranes, hoists, mobile elevating work platforms and slings.
- Care and leisure operators using patient hoists, pool hoists and passenger lifts serving working areas.
- Anyone buying used, imported or heavily modified machinery, where conformity paperwork is often incomplete.
The regulations that apply
Your legal framework, in plain terms
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 sit under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, supported by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 govern what a manufacturer or importer must do before a machine reaches the market. PUWER governs what you do once it is in your building.
PUWER regulation 4. Suitability
Equipment must be suitable for the work, the place and the conditions of use.
PUWER regulation 6. Inspection
Required after installation or assembly before first use where safety depends on installation conditions, at suitable intervals where equipment is exposed to deteriorating conditions and after exceptional circumstances such as modification, suspected damage or a major change of use.
PUWER regulation 11. Guarding hierarchy
Fixed enclosing guards first. Then other guards and protection devices such as interlocks, light curtains and pressure mats. Then jigs, holders and push sticks. Then information, instruction, training and supervision.
LOLER regulation 9. Thorough examination
Every 6 months for equipment used to lift people and for all lifting accessories. Every 12 months for other lifting equipment. Or in accordance with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person.
The honest bit about frequency
PUWER sets no fixed inspection intervals. Nothing in the Regulations tells you to inspect a machine monthly or annually. The interval comes from your risk assessment, the manufacturer's instructions and the relevant industry standard. Not every item needs a formal recorded inspection. Anyone selling a fixed universal PUWER frequency is selling a habit rather than a duty.
LOLER is prescriptive by contrast. Alongside the 6 and 12 month intervals, thorough examination is required before first use unless the equipment arrives with a Declaration of Conformity less than twelve months old, after installation at a new site or location and after exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise safety. A defect presenting existing or imminent danger is reported immediately to the employer and to the relevant enforcing authority.
CE, UKCA and the change coming in 2027
Stable now, moving in January 2027
CE marking continues to be recognised in Great Britain with no end date, under legislation in force from 1 October 2024. Manufacturers may use either UKCA or CE for machinery placed on the GB market. UKCA is an alternative rather than a requirement. Northern Ireland runs through the Windsor Framework, using CE or UK(NI) alongside CE.
The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 remain in force and were not revoked after Brexit. An amendment debated in the Commons on 30 June 2026 is due to come into force on 20 January 2027. It confines the 2008 Regulations to England, Wales and Scotland. New regulations 12A and 12B open a route to the GB market for machinery conforming to EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230, subject to the essential health and safety requirements and English-language documentation. That Regulation also applies directly in Northern Ireland from the same date, with transitional protection for machinery already compliant with the 2008 Regulations. If you are specifying machinery for delivery in 2027 or later, that date belongs in your procurement conversation.
What we assess
Every guard, interlock and lifting accessory on site
- Every guard on the machine, tested against the regulation 11 hierarchy rather than accepted because it exists.
- Trapping, drawing-in, shearing and entanglement points at each operator and maintainer position.
- Interlock integrity, including whether one can be defeated with a spare key, a cable tie or a magnet.
- Emergency stop coverage, reset behaviour and whether stopping performance matches access time to the danger zone.
- Isolation and lock-off for cleaning, unblocking, setting and maintenance, plus the permit to work system behind them.
- Inspection intervals under regulation 6, justified by condition and use rather than copied from a template.
- Lifting equipment register, examination scheme, report dates and defect close-out against LOLER regulation 9.
- Lifting accessory marking, safe working load, storage and who is allowed to reject one.
- Operator competence, authorisation and refresher arrangements, plus noise and vibration at the operator position.
Our process
From asset register to a regime maintenance can run
- 01
Scoping and register build
We agree the equipment in scope and build or correct the asset register. Missing assets are the commonest finding on a first visit.
- 02
Site assessment
We assess each machine and lifting item at the operator and maintainer position, running where safe and isolated where not.
- 03
Gap report
Findings are graded, tied to the regulation and given a realistic remedy. Where a guarding upgrade is needed we describe the engineering intent so an integrator can quote it.
- 04
Regime design
We set inspection intervals, examination scheme scope and pre-use check content, then write them into a schedule maintenance can run.
- 05
Verification and review
We revisit to confirm remedial work was done properly, then fold the register into your ongoing health and safety audits.
What you get
Findings by machine and intervals you can defend
- A machine by machine PUWER report, referenced to regulation numbers with photographs.
- A LOLER register showing every item, its examination frequency, last report date and next due date.
- A prioritised remedial plan separating immediate stop-use items from planned engineering work.
- A written inspection and pre-use check schedule, with the justification for each interval recorded.
- A conformity file review for new, used or modified machinery, flagging documentation gaps early.
What we need from you
Your registers and access to the machines
- Your current equipment and lifting equipment registers, even where they are incomplete.
- Existing thorough examination reports and outstanding defect lists.
- Manuals, declarations of conformity and any modification records.
- Access during production or a planned shutdown window where assessment requires guards to be removed.
- The names of the people who authorise operators and control maintenance access.
Why AL23 Safety
A regulation number behind every finding
Accountable
Where a guard is inadequate or a machine should come out of service we say so on the day. We do not write findings that let a dangerous machine keep running.
Expert and chartered
Qualified, chartered professionals working to current standards, with a regulation number attached to every finding.
Practical, not just compliant
We separate the interlock that must be replaced this week from the paperwork that can wait a quarter. Production keeps running.
UK wide
We assess machinery across the UK, from single workshops to multi-site groups. We cover the noise and vibration exposure those machines create at the same visit.
Get the machines looked at before an inspector does
Tell us what is on the floor and we will tell you what is involved
A rough equipment list is enough to scope a visit. If your risk sits in three machines rather than thirty, we will say so.
Common questions
Answers, up front
Cannot see your question? Get in touch and we will answer it directly.
Contact usThere is no fixed answer in the Regulations. Regulation 6 requires inspection after installation where safety depends on installation conditions, at suitable intervals where deterioration is possible and after exceptional circumstances. The interval comes from your risk assessment, the manufacturer's guidance and industry standards. We record the reasoning so you can defend it.
PUWER inspection is a check on the condition and safety of work equipment, with scope and frequency set by risk. LOLER thorough examination is a statutory examination of lifting equipment and accessories by a competent person, at 6 or 12 month intervals or under an examination scheme. Neither substitutes for the other.
A lift truck used only to lift loads falls into the 12 month category. Where the truck lifts people, for example with a working platform or a man-up cab, the 6 month interval applies. Every lifting accessory used with it sits at 6 months.
We assess whether your LOLER regime is correct, whether the examination scheme covers the right items at the right frequency and whether defects are closed out. Statutory thorough examination itself is usually delivered by an engineer surveyor through an inspection body or insurer. We are clear about that boundary and we check the work you receive.
Yes. CE marking continues to be recognised in Great Britain with no end date, following legislation in force from 1 October 2024. UKCA remains available as an alternative. An amendment due in force on 20 January 2027 opens a further route for machinery conforming to EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 and applies that Regulation directly in Northern Ireland.
Cost is driven by the number and complexity of machines, whether assessment can happen during production, the number of sites and whether guarding specification is included. A twelve machine workshop is a different job from a continuous process line. Send an equipment list and we will price it properly.
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