Fall arrest equipment falls under LOLER. Here is what that means.
Not all of it. Not always. The answer depends on what the equipment is actually doing. LOLER 1998 covers lifting operations: where equipment raises, lowers, or actively supports a person as part of a deliberate, controlled activity. When that is the case, the equipment falls within the LOLER thorough examination requirements. PUWER covers all work equipment broadly, and that is where purely passive fall protection sits.
The dividing line is simple. Is the equipment actively supporting the person? That is LOLER. Does it only activate if a fall occurs? That is PUWER. Getting this wrong means either under-inspecting equipment that carries legal obligations, or over-engineering a schedule that does not need to exist.
Rope access sits firmly under LOLER. IRATA does not change that.
If your team uses rope access to work at height, the rope is actively supporting the person. That makes it a lifting system under LOLER, full stop. The working line and safety line together carry the load. Both lines fall within scope. This means:
- 6-monthly thorough examination of all ropes, harnesses, connectors, and anchors used in the system
- Schedule 1-compliant written report after each examination, retained as part of the duty holder's audit trail
- Competent person must have rope access-specific knowledge in addition to general LOLER competence
- IRATA or SPRAT inspection protocols do not replace LOLER. Both apply simultaneously.
LOLER does not apply here. The Work at Height Regulations still do.
Pure fall arrest equipment sits under PUWER and the Work at Height Regulations 2005, not LOLER. Regulation 12 and Schedule 7 require inspection by a competent person before first use, after any event that could have affected safety, and at intervals set by risk assessment. No fixed statutory interval applies. The frequency must match the conditions, the environment, and the consequences of failure.
In practice, six-monthly examination is the industry standard for equipment in regular use. Pre-use checks before every use are also required. Records of inspections must be kept. If there is an accident, the HSE will want to see them. The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) provides guidance on competent person standards for fall protection.
PUWER applies to fall arrest equipment. Here is what your records need to show.
Your fall arrest equipment must be inspected under PUWER. How often? That depends on the manufacturer's guidance, how frequently it is used, the environment it works in, and what happens if it fails. In most cases: annual inspection by a competent person, plus pre-use checks before each use.
PUWER does not prescribe a written report format like LOLER Schedule 1. Records must still be kept. If there is an incident, the HSE will want to see them. Your records need to show the date, the examiner's identity, what was examined, what was found, and what action was taken.
Not all fall arrest equipment falls under LOLER. However, assuming non-coverage without written expert opinion is a compliance risk. When the classification is unclear, apply the LOLER 6-month examination interval for person-associated equipment.
Window cleaning cradles look like fall protection. LOLER treats them as lifting equipment.
Suspended access cradles used for window cleaning, facade maintenance, and external building work are LOLER equipment. No ambiguity. The cradle carries a person, so it must be examined every 6 months by a competent person. A Schedule 1-compliant report must be produced after each examination. Most people categorise these as fall protection. The regulations categorise them as lifting equipment. What you call it does not change what you owe.
The operators also wear harnesses and lanyards clipped to separate anchor points above the cradle. That personal fall arrest equipment sits under the Work at Height Regulations. Two sets of obligations. Same job. Managing them in a single compliance system stops records from drifting apart.
Using a crane or hoist to raise a person? LOLER Regulation 5 applies immediately.
Industrial facilities sometimes adapt lifting equipment to raise persons: a crane fitted with a man-riding cage, a goods hoist used occasionally for person access, or a davit lowering someone into a confined space. LOLER Regulation 5 applies to all of these. Any equipment that raises a person must be specifically rated for person-carrying, examined every 6 months, and operated under strict controls. Goods equipment rated for loads cannot simply be pressed into person use without formal re-rating and fresh examination.