Care home hoists and slings must have a LOLER thorough examination at least every 6 months, because they lift people. The hoist and every sling are examined separately, and each one gets its own written report. CQC inspectors ask to see those reports as evidence that equipment is safe and properly maintained.
This is where care homes most often fall short, usually for the same three reasons: slings get forgotten, servicing gets mistaken for a thorough examination, and nobody can find the paperwork on the day an inspector asks.
This guide covers what LOLER requires in a care setting, how it links to CQC regulations, what the new MHRA hoist and sling safety alert now expects of you, and the records you need to be able to produce on request.
What LOLER means in a care home
LOLER 1998 applies to any equipment used at work for lifting or lowering loads. In a care home, the load is usually a resident, and that changes two things.
Equipment that lifts people is examined every 6 months, not 12. Most industrial lifting equipment runs on a 12-month cycle. Anything that lifts a person runs 6 months under Regulation 9 of LOLER, and nearly all of your equipment lifts people.
The duty sits with you, not your supplier. The registered provider is the duty holder. You cannot pass that to the hoist manufacturer, the maintenance contractor or the loan store. They can do the work; you stay responsible for making sure it happens and for holding the records.
LOLER sits alongside PUWER, which covers the hoist as work equipment. You need both, and our guide to how LOLER and PUWER differ explains where each applies.
Which care home equipment is covered by LOLER?
Equipment that lifts people: every 6 months
- Mobile hoists, including stand aids and sit-to-stand hoists
- Ceiling track hoists, including the track, fixings and supporting structure
- Gantry and free standing hoists
- Bath hoists and bath lifts
- Bariatric hoists
- Pool and spa hoists
- Passenger lifts and platform lifts used by residents
- Stairlifts used by residents
Lifting accessories: every 6 months
- All sling types: hammock, toileting, standing, amputee, in-situ and bariatric
- Spreader bars and coat hanger bars
- Stretchers and transfer sheets that take the load
- Any strap, clip or loop that forms part of the lift
What LOLER does not cover
Slide sheets, transfer boards, turning discs and handling belts do not lift a person clear of a surface, so they are not lifting equipment under LOLER. They still need checking and replacing, but under PUWER and your own manual handling policy rather than a 6 monthly thorough examination.
Profiling beds are a grey area. The bed itself is not usually lifting equipment, but an integrated or attached hoist is. If you are unsure where a piece of kit sits, our guide to what equipment is covered by LOLER sets out the boundary.
How often must care home hoists and slings be examined?
| Equipment | Maximum interval | Examined as |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile hoist | 6 months | Lifting equipment |
| Ceiling track hoist and track | 6 months | Lifting equipment |
| Stand aid | 6 months | Lifting equipment |
| Bath hoist or bath lift | 6 months | Lifting equipment |
| Passenger lift or platform lift | 6 months | Lifting equipment |
| Stairlift used by residents | 6 months | Lifting equipment |
| Every sling, individually | 6 months | Lifting accessory |
| Spreader bar | 6 months | Lifting accessory |
| Slide sheets and transfer boards | Not covered by LOLER | PUWER checks |
Six months is a maximum, not a target. A competent person can set shorter intervals under a written examination scheme, which is common for bath hoists and slings in heavy daily use. For other equipment types, see our LOLER inspection frequency guide.
Two extra triggers are easy to miss:
- A ceiling track hoist must be examined after installation, and again if it is moved or the structure around it is altered.
- Any hoist involved in an incident, fall or near miss comes out of service until a competent person has examined it.
Pre-use check, service and thorough examination: the difference
This is the most common misunderstanding in care home compliance, and the one that turns a confident “yes, we are covered” into a gap on inspection day.
| Pre-use check | Service | Thorough examination | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does it | Care staff | Maintenance engineer | Competent person, independent of maintenance |
| How often | Before every transfer | Usually, every 6 or 12 months by contract | Every 6 months, by law |
| Purpose | Spot obvious damage before use | Keep the hoist working | Judge whether it is safe to keep using |
| What it covers | Sling label, stitching, loops, clips, battery, brakes | Actuator, handset, control unit, battery, mast, boom, chassis | The whole item, examined against LOLER |
| Output | A logged check | A service sheet | A Schedule 1 report of thorough examination |
| Satisfies LOLER? | No | No | Yes |
A service record is not a LOLER report. Many care homes hold a stack of service sheets and believe they are compliant. If the document lacks the information Schedule 1 requires in a report of thorough examination, including the next due date and the examiner's qualifications, it is not evidence of a thorough examination.
The MHRA safety alert: what care homes must do by September 2027
On 16 September 2026 the MHRA issued National Patient Safety Alert NatPSA/2026/005/MHRA, covering patient hoists and slings of all types. It applies directly to care homes, nursing homes and care services, and follows an average of two deaths a year since 2015 from residents falling during transfers. Providers have until 16 September 2027 to complete five actions.
| Required action | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Standardised pre-use checks | Document a check for every hoist and sling, including a pause and check after load take-up, before the resident is fully lifted |
| Hoist and sling compatibility | Keep a local register of approved combinations, available to all staff who hoist |
| Complete inventory | Every hoist and sling identified and recorded, including items issued to residents in the community |
| LOLER examinations up to date | Records kept current, and any hoist with an overdue examination or unresolved defect removed from service |
| Role appropriate training | Pre-use checks, compatibility, correct fitting, spotting unsafe equipment, how to stop and escalate |
Two are quick wins: check today that no hoist is past its examination date, and that you can produce a list of which slings are approved for which hoists.
Why slings are the biggest compliance gap
Most care homes have their hoists under control. Slings are a different story.
A sling is a lifting accessory in its own right and is not covered by the hoist’s certificate. Each one needs a unique identification mark, its own 6 monthly examination and its own report. A 40 bed home with 6 hoists and 90 slings has 96 items to track, not 6.
Slings also move. They go to the laundry, come back to a different wing and quietly disappear from the register. Labelling each sling and tying the record to that label is the only approach that survives real care home conditions, and the same discipline applies to every lifting accessory on a 6 month cycle, including spreader bars and straps.
Two further risks are worth naming. Mixing a sling from one manufacturer with another’s spreader bar is a named cause in the MHRA alert, and HSE makes the same point about insecure attachment. Laundering also degrades webbing and stitching, so slings can reach the end of their safe life before the next examination is due. Build sling condition into the pre-use check.
Who can carry out a LOLER examination in a care home?
The examination must be done by a competent person: someone with enough practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of that equipment to spot defects and judge how serious they are.
Competence is specific to the equipment. Someone competent on mobile hoists is not automatically competent on a ceiling track system with structural fixings. Ask which equipment types the examiner is signed off for.
Independence matters. Whoever services your hoists should not be the person who examines them. HSE guidance is clear the competent person must be sufficiently independent and impartial to make an objective judgement.
There is no statutory LOLER licence, so competence is evidenced rather than certified: engineering qualifications, documented experience with care equipment, membership of a body such as LEEA, or accreditation to ISO 17020. Ask for that evidence in writing, and apply the same checks when comparing LOLER inspection providers.
How CQC looks at lifting equipment
Lifting equipment sits inside three fundamental standards in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
| Regulation | What it requires | Evidence CQC will look for |
|---|---|---|
| 12, safe care and treatment | “Ensuring that the equipment used by the service provider for providing care or treatment to a service user is safe for such use and is used in a safe way” | In-date thorough examination reports for named hoists and slings |
| 15, premises and equipment | Equipment suitable, properly used and properly maintained | Service records, defect closure, equipment register |
| 17, good governance | Accurate records that can be produced on request | Retrievable reports, pre-use logs, training records |
An overdue hoist examination is not a filing problem. It is potential evidence of a breach of a fundamental standard.
What is changing in 2026
CQC is replacing the Single Assessment Framework, introduced in December 2023, with four sector specific frameworks. Adult social care gets its own framework again. The 34 quality statements are being replaced by 24 Key Lines of Enquiry, written as questions describing what CQC will actively look for. The five key questions, Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led, stay the same.
The consultation closed on 12 June 2026, with final frameworks expected over summer 2026 and implementation by the end of the year. Rating characteristics are returning as part of the framework.
What this means for lifting equipment is simple: the labels change; the evidence does not. Under the current framework, equipment safety sits under the “safe environments” quality statement, which states: “We detect and control potential risks in the care environment. We make sure that the equipment, facilities and technology support the delivery of safe care.” Whatever that statement is called next year, in-date examination reports are what proves it.
What inspectors ask for
In our experience, the request is rarely “show me your LOLER policy”. It is far more specific:
- The last thorough examination report for a named hoist on a named unit
- The sling records for a resident with complex handling needs
- Evidence that a defect found at the last examination was fixed
- The pre-use check records for the past week
- Training records for the staff who hoist
The policy is easy. The traceable evidence, for the specific item, on the day, is what separates a good outcome from a requirement of notice.
How long must care homes keep LOLER records?
| Record | Minimum retention |
|---|---|
| Report of thorough examination | Until the next report, and at least 2 years |
| Report for examination before first use | As long as you have the equipment |
| Pre-use check logs | Follow your own policy, 12 months is a sensible minimum |
Digital records satisfy the law exactly as paper does. The practical test is whether you can retrieve the right report for the right item in a few minutes, from any unit, while someone is standing in front of you asking for it. Our guides on how long to keep LOLER records and LOLER record keeping cover what a complete file looks like.
What happens if a hoist is overdue or fails
Overdue means out of service. LOLER requires physical evidence that the last thorough examination has been carried out. Once the date passes, that evidence no longer covers the current period. “The engineer is booked for next week” is not a defence.
Defects are graded A, B and C by urgency. A category A defect means existing or imminent risk of serious injury: the equipment stops immediately, and the competent person must tell you at once and copy the report to the enforcing authority. See LOLER defect categories and LOLER penalties and enforcement.
A compliance routine for registered managers
| Frequency | What to do |
|---|---|
| Every shift | Pre-use checks on each hoist and sling, including the pause and check step. Log them |
| Every week | Walk the equipment list, flag anything due in 6 weeks, check slings are where they belong |
| Every month | Confirm last round’s defects are closed out and the compatibility register matches the floor |
| Every 6 months | Thorough examination of every hoist, lift and sling. Book 6 weeks ahead so a failure still leaves time for repair |
| Every year | Refresh moving and handling training, review your examination scheme, check the inventory |
All of this rests on a single register listing every hoist and sling with its location, last examination and next due date. Building one is quicker if you start from a standard LOLER inspection checklist and add the care specific items. The usual failure point is a spreadsheet only one person updates, which is why care groups move to automated examination reminders tied to each item, with a compliance view across every site.