LOLER

[Heapsy]

Hello all,

 

I'm in the process of investing in a few rigging bits and pieces to service other areas of my business. Namely truss and chain hoists, plus the steels, spannys, shackles and O rings that go together to form a complete system.

 

My question arrises from wanting to ensure we stay fully compliant with LOLER as well as demonstrating best practice.

 

LOLER is obviously the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations but what are we classing as lifting equipment? I'm not sure there will be a definitive answer but would like to start a discussion.

A motor or a chain block is lifting equipment, thats a given, but what about truss? Is a length of truss supported by a number of winches the 'load' or does it form part of the lifting system?

If we say truss is part of the lifting system what about a line array flying frame or a speaker bracket? I'm not saying these items shouldn't be regularly inspected, but do they fall under LOLER?

 

Whilst working in a large central London hotel recently I was asked for the LOLER certs for my safety steels by the freelance rigger who had been bought in to supervise us. From my understanding safeties aren't covered by LOLER, I was able to show regular inspection certs which after many sharp intakes of breath and shaking of the head seemed to satisfy him "Just this once". After this I called a number of the larger lighting companies and asked if they were able to issue LOLER certs with steels, none of them were.

 

I welcome your comments...

[Simon Lewis]

I'm sure that some of this is subject to interpretation, but here's how our lifting inspector does it:

 

Lifting equipment is taken to be the chain winches, motors, truss and (for our venue) the flying points. We also have a ground support system and the hand winches / steel cables are included. These are inspected annually.

 

Lifting accessories include shackles, slings, steels, O rings, clutch chains, PPE etc. are all tested every 6 months. Even if a shackle is dedicated to a device (e.g. the D shackles on our ground support sleeve blocks) they still get tested as individual items because they could conceivably be used apart from their present use.

 

I'm guessing the steels that you use could be used for lifting, or could be used as safeties?

 

The load is what we hang on the truss. We do not have hook clamps / luminaires / fly frames etc. inspected, although the shackle on the fly frames probably would be. We would check that these loads were suitable for purpose and use safety bonds etc.

 

The LOLER ACOP is actually quite a good read...

 

One colleague gets around the production of certificates issue by having all of the LOLER inspection paperwork online (done - I think - by the inspection company) so a smart phone or or office PC can quickly identify the status of any piece of gear on site.

 

 

Simon

[Pete McCrea]

I find it surprising that the big lighting companies are unable to provide inspection certificates for their steels. Between those and the shackles they form a major part of the lifting accessories that suspend most of our shows.

 

We get our accessories - shackles, half couplers etc inspected every 6 months. It's then tagged with a coloured ziptie, so that we can then spot hardware that was missed in the last test period. A simillar colour coding system was used for equipment when I worked on the railway. If the track jack was painted blue then it needed to be inspected as they were the June test period, and its now February for example.

 

We use a local firm - Gloucester Crane and Lifting. It really doesn't cost that much - about £1 an item off the top of my head. We then get issued paper Certs that are kept in the office, with a scan in Dropbox.

[StevieR]

With regards to 'safeties', if it was a safety bond for a lighting fixture then no, I would not include it under LOLER as this is not part of a lifting system. However, a safety for a truss would be part of a lifting system and therefore would need testing.

 

Now, Truss is one of those strange items which never seems to have been included under any of the LOLER test requirements. Instead it seems to be classed as a 'load'. However, our testing company mentioned that this may be changing soon with 'truss' being recategorised as a 'lifting accessory'. Personally, I have no issue with this as it does clear this one up. Has anyone else heard about this rumour?

 

Steve

[Simon Lewis]

We've always had truss classed as lifting equipment and tested anually.

[Brian]

However, our testing company mentioned that this may be changing soon with 'truss' being recategorised as a 'lifting accessory'.

 

Being the pedant that I am, who, exactly, is going to do that re-categorisation?

[StevieR]

However, our testing company mentioned that this may be changing soon with 'truss' being recategorised as a 'lifting accessory'.

 

Being the pedant that I am, who, exactly, is going to do that re-categorisation?

 

And that's what we want to know also.

[kitlane]

If you hang a piece a truss with nothing on it then it is probably a load. However, you are almost always going to hang something on the truss and hence it becomes lifting equipment.

[kerry davies]

The engineering definition of truss is; a framework supporting a load.

 

We tend to use the word truss for a certain item and maybe we need to take a step back from that elision? In theory if we call it truss then it will always be subject to LOLER when it is suspended. It might not be when used as a pillar but becomes so once a load is placed on that pillar.

 

Does that make sense?

[StevieR]

If you hang a piece a truss with nothing on it then it is probably a load. However, you are almost always going to hang something on the truss and hence it becomes lifting equipment.

So, by that argument, should we also be subjecting all scaff bars to formal inspection and testing also?

[trussmonkey]

in theory yes. LOLER applies to ALL lifting equipment no matter what it is.

 

Inspection yes. Testing is another matter. You should not be load testing scaff bars/truss etc. Load testing only applies to mechanical items such as hoists and winches.

[librarian28]

in theory yes. LOLER applies to ALL lifting equipment no matter what it is.

 

Inspection yes. Testing is another matter. You should not be load testing scaff bars/truss etc. Load testing only applies to mechanical items such as hoists and winches.

 

Yes, for my taste, the word 'test' is used too loosely (in this thread and in many previous posts).

Not wanting to pick on Simon Lewis, but he says that his truss is tested annually. What is the test that should be performed on the truss? And, are you sure that your lifting inspector 'tests' your shackles?

One could make a comfy living by making pub bets on how many times the word 'test' appears in the actual body of the LOLER regulations outside of the Interpretation and Ammendment sections.

[Simon Lewis]

<stands in the naughty corner>

 

I would call that load testing, as it makes clear what is being done.... However, yes - "test" is not the best word to use.

 

We had our fly points load tested at installation and again after some modifictaions and repair. Quite good fun hanging 1500kg off the ceiling!

[trussmonkey]

load testing should not be done on anything other than hoists. what load would you test the truss/shackle/steel too? 100% 50% 125% . which ever way you shake it you are un necessarily loading an item. a thorough inspection will suffice. for steels/shackles and the like this is checking for broken wires and deformation. for truss/scaf pipes etc this is checking for bending, deformation, crushing and damage to welds. if you really want to be extra diligent you can subject the metallic elements to Eddy Current or Dye Pen testing. this will make sure the welds are up to scratch etc.

[Simon Lewis]

Just to be clear, none of the equipment I'm responsible for is load tested. The fly points are visually inspected and the security of the fixings are checked. Load testing of the points is carried out only after initial installation and after any remedial work.