UK lifting sector to address Code of Practice revisions

The CPA is to sending its submission on the revision to the Health and Safety Executive.

The ACOP has been primarily revised to bring it up to date, accommodate amendments relating to new legal requirements and to make it clearer and easier to understand for users. Equipment subject to LOLER has been clarified in the draft, as has who can be a competent person under Regulation 9.

"There is nothing within LOLER that prohibits the competent person who carries out the thorough examination from being the same person who performs routine maintenance operations. However, in such cases this means there is no independent assessment of the work.

"This may be an issue particularly where the risk of injury to others is high in the event of equipment failure; your risk assessment should show that you have considered all the options and how you reached your decision on whether these functions should be carried out by separate people."

The draft also says all lifting equipment, even when it was manufactured and put into use before 1998, will come under ACOP.

The legal duties the ACOP places on dutyholders, the advice it provides and the methods of compliance described remain largely unchanged.

Dutyholders already complying with regulations are unlikely to have to change what they are doing. Benefits will be predominantly realised by new users seeking advice on achieving compliance or those refreshing their knowledge.

The consultation is not seeking views on the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations to which the ACOP applies. "There are no plans to change the regulations themselves at this time," said the government.