Motor Trade Sector
Lifting equipment guidance
Health & Safety update 08/03/2012
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has updated its guidance
for the motor vehicle repair industry, replacing two publications
from the early 1990s with 'Health and safety in motor vehicle
repair and associated industries' (HSG261). Working in
collaboration with industry the document has been brought up to
date to reflect recent changes to both vehicles and industry
standards.
Historically, the failure of lifting equipment has caused both
serious and fatal injuries during vehicle repair. Within the scope
of the Lifting Equipment and Lifting Operations Regulations 1998
(LOLER) are vehicle lifts and jacks. A periodic thorough
examination of the lifting equipment is required to ensure that it
remains safe to operate.
Vehicle lifts should be thoroughly examined every six months if
work is carried out when there is a person either in or beneath the
vehicle whilst it is raised on the lift. For body alignment jigs or
trolley and bottle jacks, a thorough examination every 12 months
may be more appropriate, as people are not routinely working
underneath the jigs. As with other items of work equipment,
scheduled routine inspection and maintenance should also be carried
out for lifting equipment. This may be determined by the competent
person, along with the interval between each thorough
inspection.
A copy of the updated guidance along with example risk
assessments and other free resources can be downloaded from the HSE
website: www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/information.htm
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