LOLER for Care Homes

Lifting equipment inspection requirements for care homes including patient hoists, stairlifts, platform lifts and passenger lifts.

Lifting Equipment Inspections for Care Homes

Care homes use a wide range of lifting equipment every day — patient hoists, bath hoists, stairlifts, platform lifts, and in many cases passenger lifts. All of this equipment falls under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) and requires regular thorough examination by an independent competent person.

This guide covers what care home operators need to know about their LOLER obligations.

What Equipment Needs Inspecting?

Care homes typically contain more lifting equipment than operators realise. Common items requiring thorough examination include:

• Patient hoists (mobile and ceiling-track) — used daily for resident transfers
• Slings and lifting accessories — the fabric or mesh slings used with hoists
• Bath hoists — fixed or portable units for bathing assistance
• Stairlifts — used by residents or in staff areas
• Platform lifts — providing wheelchair access between floors
• Passenger lifts — in larger care homes and purpose-built facilities
• Goods lifts and dumbwaiters — used for laundry, meals, and supplies

Patient hoists and their slings are the most commonly found lifting equipment in care homes — and among the most frequently inspected.

Inspection Intervals for Care Home Equipment

Because most care home lifting equipment carries people, the 6-month examination interval applies to the majority of items:

• Every 6 months — patient hoists, bath hoists, stairlifts, platform lifts, passenger lifts, ceiling-track hoists
• Every 6 months — slings and lifting accessories (regardless of the host equipment’s interval)
• Every 12 months — goods-only lifts, dumbwaiters, and equipment that only lifts loads

The 6-month interval is not optional. LOLER Regulation 9 mandates this frequency for all equipment used to lift persons. Operating equipment beyond its examination due date is a criminal offence.

Who Is the Duty Holder?

In a care home setting, the duty holder is typically:

• The care home operator or registered provider (the organisation running the home)
• The building owner if the home is leased and they retain responsibility for fixed installations
• In group-operated homes, the regional or operations manager often has practical responsibility

The duty holder must arrange thorough examinations, retain reports, and act on any defects identified. This responsibility cannot be passed to the hoist manufacturer or the maintenance engineer.

Slings Require Separate Examination

A common compliance gap in care homes is sling inspection. Under LOLER, slings are classified as lifting accessories and must be thoroughly examined at least every 6 months — separately from the hoist they are used with.

Care homes often have multiple slings per hoist, and slings may be shared between rooms or wards. Every sling must be individually identified, tracked, and examined. Missing a single sling from the examination schedule creates a compliance gap.

Common Defects Found in Care Homes

Common defects identified during thorough examinations of care home lifting equipment include:

• Sling fabric wear — stitching degradation, fraying, or tears from repeated washing and use
• Hoist spreader bar damage — cracks or deformation affecting load distribution
• Ceiling-track rail fixings — loosening over time, particularly in older buildings
• Battery degradation — on mobile hoists, reducing lifting capacity
• Stairlift rail wear — particularly at curved sections, affecting smooth operation
• Platform lift door interlocks — maladjustment allowing doors to open between levels

Many of these defects develop gradually and are not visible during routine daily checks. This is precisely why independent thorough examination is required.

CQC and Regulatory Alignment

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) expects care homes to maintain all equipment in safe working order. While the CQC does not directly enforce LOLER, inspectors will check that:

• Equipment maintenance and inspection records are up to date
• Thorough examination reports are available and defects have been addressed
• Staff are trained in the safe use of lifting equipment

Under the Single Assessment Framework (introduced October 2023, replacing the previous Key Lines of Enquiry approach), the CQC assesses providers against five key questions — including the Safe key question, which is delivered through a set of Quality Statements covering safe environments, safe care and treatment, and safe and effective staffing. Current LOLER thorough examination evidence is what an inspector will expect to see against the equipment-safety elements of those Quality Statements. A care home that cannot demonstrate current thorough examination certificates for its lifting equipment risks a negative CQC finding on the Safe key question.

Practical Tips for Care Home Managers

1. Create an equipment register listing every item of lifting equipment including all slings
2. Set calendar reminders for examination due dates — do not rely on the inspection company to chase you
3. Keep reports accessible — CQC inspectors and HSE officers may ask to see them at short notice
4. Act on defects promptly — a defect noted as requiring action within 28 days means 28 days, not “when convenient”
5. Label slings clearly — each sling should have an individual identification number for tracking

Looking for someone to actually inspect your equipment?

This guide covers the regulatory framework. If you’re ready to commission inspections for a care home or care home group, our care homes sector page covers what we do operationally — equipment in scope, multi-site contract pricing, CQC-aligned reporting, single point of contact.

For the structural case on inspector independence — what LOLER Reg 9 actually requires of a competent person, and the four common conflicts that compromise most of the UK inspection market — see our positioning page on why independence matters in statutory inspection.

Related Services

We provide thorough examinations for care homes:

• Lifting Equipment Inspections — hoists, slings, and lifting accessories
• Passenger and Goods Lift Inspections — building lifts and platform lifts
• Work at Height Equipment Inspections — access platforms for building maintenance

Coverage areas: Kent, London, Essex.