A warehouse usually runs equipment under four statutory regimes at the same time: LOLER 1998 for the lifting equipment, PUWER 1998 for everything else that counts as work equipment, PSSR 2000 for compressed air, and WAHR 2005 wherever people work at height. The forklifts are rarely the problem, because everyone remembers the forklifts. What gets missed is the equipment nobody thinks of as plant: the slings hanging on the rack end, the goods lift in the corner, the loading bay kit, and the racking itself.
This is how the regimes divide up a typical distribution or storage operation, and which items most often fall through the gaps.
What falls under LOLER?
Anything that lifts or lowers a load, and the accessories used with it. The interval depends on what the equipment lifts rather than on the type of machine.
| Equipment | Maximum interval | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Counterbalance and reach trucks | 12 months | 6 months if fitted with a platform that raises a person |
| Order pickers and MEWPs | 6 months | The operator is lifted as part of normal use |
| Goods lift not carrying people | 12 months | 6 months if it also carries people |
| Overhead and jib cranes | 12 months | 6 months if used to lift people |
| Slings, chains, shackles, eyebolts | 6 months | Examined in their own right, not covered by the machine |
| Vehicle tail lifts | 6 months | Lifts people in normal use in many configurations |
Those are the maximum intervals LOLER sets. The alternative is examination in accordance with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, which can set different intervals for a specific item and duty. Two items on that table are worth a closer look than a line each allows: our forklift thorough examination guide covers truck intervals in full, and the post on how often a tail lift should be inspected does the same for tail lifts.
Lifting accessories are the single most commonly missed item in a warehouse. They are cheap, they get replaced informally, and they end up in service without ever entering the examination schedule. A thorough examination of the crane or the truck does not cover the sling used with it.
What about racking, conveyors and the loading bay?
These sit under PUWER 1998. Racking is work equipment: it is provided for use at work and it can injure people when it fails. PUWER requires work equipment to be maintained in efficient working order, and where deterioration is likely, inspected at suitable intervals with a record kept.
Industry practice for racking is a competent person inspection at a regular interval, supported by routine checks by trained staff and a system for reporting impact damage as it happens. The regular inspection is the backstop, not the control: damage occurs between inspections, and a bent upright discovered eleven months later has been carrying load in that condition all year.
Conveyors, sortation equipment, strapping and wrapping machines, balers and compactors are all PUWER equipment, and the ones with dangerous parts or significant stored energy deserve the closest attention. Guarding, interlocks and emergency stops are the things that matter most.
Dock levellers need a deliberate decision rather than an assumption. Whether a given unit falls under PUWER as work equipment or under LOLER as lifting equipment depends on the unit and how it is used. A leveller that bridges the gap between the bay and a vehicle bed is generally work equipment; one used to raise or lower a load as a lifting operation in its own right can fall under LOLER instead. A competent person determines which applies before any examination regime is set for it.
Does PSSR apply in a warehouse?
Usually yes, through compressed air. Air receivers feeding pneumatic tools, wrapping lines, tyre inflation points and vehicle workshops are pressure systems, and where PSSR 2000 applies the user must have a written scheme of examination drawn up or certified by a competent person, with examinations at the intervals that scheme specifies.
The scheme comes first. Without it you have no defensible interval, and the examination has nothing to work to. Whether a particular receiver falls in scope depends on the stored energy and the fluid against the thresholds in the regulations, which is a determination for a competent person rather than a judgement to make from the size of the vessel. Our guide on the written scheme of examination explains what it contains.
Where does work at height apply?
More often than people expect. Mezzanine edges and pallet gates, access to high level racking, roof and plant access, and anyone working on top of a vehicle or trailer all fall under WAHR 2005 where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause injury.
Harnesses, lanyards, inertia reels and anchor points need formal inspection by a competent person at intervals determined by the manufacturer's instructions and the intensity of use, alongside a pre-use check by the person wearing them. Ladders, stepladders and tower scaffolds need inspection too. The working at height equipment inspection guide sets out what each involves.
MEWPs sit in both regimes at once and this is not a contradiction. The machine is thoroughly examined under LOLER because it lifts people, and the work at height activity is managed under WAHR. Both apply.
How to stop things falling through the gaps
Build one register covering every item, its regime, its unique identifier, its last examination and its next due date. Five separate cycles managed by five separate memories is how a sling ends up eighteen months past due.
Three practical habits close most of the remaining gaps. Add new equipment to the register on the day it arrives rather than at the next review. Treat hired equipment as in scope for the duration of the hire, because the duty follows control. And give accessories their own line rather than lumping them in with the machine they are used with.
An independent examination across the site
Safe-Lee Inspection & Consultancy covers LOLER, PUWER, PSSR, COSHH LEV and WAHR, so a single visit can cover the trucks, the accessories, the goods lift, the compressed air and the height safety equipment rather than splitting them across providers. Lee Charnock, EngTech MSOE MBES, carries out the examinations, and reports are issued in one to two working days.
We carry out no repairs, hire or equipment sales, so an examination has no commercial destination other than the report. We work across Manchester and the North West from Irlam. To discuss a site schedule, see LOLER inspections or PUWER inspections, or get in touch.