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Hauliers fail in legal checks on tail-lifts
Page 22
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• Too many hauliers are failing to carry out statutory checks on the safety of their tail-lifts, according to Alan Barsby, engineering drector at Ratcliff Tail Lifts.
Barsby points out that LDLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998) obliges them to ensure that their lifts undergo a thorough examination at least once every six months.
If they fail to do so, and somebody is injured as a consequence, then they face a fine of up to £20,000 and risk a prison sentence of up to six months on conviction, he warns.
"A thorough examination is not the same as a weight test or a service inspection, and should be treated as a completely separate exercise," he states.
No repairs can be made during the exam—although they can of course be carried out afterwards—and the examiner must present the operator with a written report highlighting any faults once the task is completed.
O• ur report form is the only
one that complies with LOLER's demands," says Barsby "The rest don't come anywhere close." The examiner must be a 'competent person', and that means he's more likely to be a specialist lift engineer than an ordinary workshop fitter.
It's also likely that he'll be employed by a third party Barsby adds. An examiner employed directly by the haulier concerned may not meet the level of independence required by LOLER, he suggests.
That's bearing in mind that if a haulier is told him that a tail-lift is in an extremely dangerous condition, but continues using it without getting it repaired, then the examiner must report him to the HSE.
Not surprisingly, Ratcliff's 24-365 Service Network is now geared up to provide thorough examinations. A charge of about £50 a time is levied by its 60plus agents nationwide, and the exam takes up to haif-an-hour.
"Wherever practicable the examiner is somebody other than the last engineer to have serviced the lift," says Barsby. "The customer always has the option of asking somebody else to come in and fix any faults that may be identified."