When defining specifications for lifting equipment, it is more than just a decision based on capacity. Two hoists with the same Working Load Limit may have completely different service lives depending on how they are used. Load capacity is only a small part of the specification. Things like duty cycle, headroom, use environment, control requirements, and obligations under the LOLER compliance regulations influence the decision, and getting any of them wrong can lead to expensive consequences, either from premature failure, or from over-engineering a solution for an application that doesn’t justify it.

This guide will look at the main types of lifting equipment used in the industrial sector within the UK, and how the various specifications and compliance issues will affect the equipment used, before being operational.

Electric Chain Hoists — Their Applicability

For light and medium industrial applications, chain hoists are the most widespread lifting solution and for good reason. They are compact and very reliable, and have a straightforward maintenance and servicing requirements, with widely available and easily accessible parts.

Chain hoists are rated for intermittent use. In a busy workshop doing occasional lifts for maintenance and assembly, a chain hoist running at 60–70% of its rated WLL will perform reliably for years. On a production line with 80 lifts per shift, it will not — and the failure mode tends to be expensive rather than gradual.

Duty classification is where most specification errors happen. FEM and ISO duty class ratings (M3 through M8, or equivalent) describe the operational intensity the hoist is designed for, not just the load it can handle. M3 and M4 cover light-to-moderate use, while M5 and above are production-grade. A hoist specified at M4 but used in an M6 environment will meet its rated capacity on every lift right up until something fails — and LOLER thorough examination records won’t catch the mismatch if nobody has reviewed the original specification against actual usage.

Chain length and headroom issues will need to be resolved early on in the project. Working height is defined by the vertical distance from the highest point of the hook to the mounting beam. It may seem straightforward, yet this is a measurement that is often done incorrectly — especially when there are obstructions such as beams, services, or mezzanines that may seem to make the height unnecessary to measure in a floor plan.

Wire Rope Hoists — The Production Environment Standard

If a given application requires high duty cycles, quicker lift speeds, or loads exceeding 5 tonnes, as well as smooth, variable speed control on the loads, then chain hoists will no longer suffice, and wire rope hoists will need to be implemented.

Smoother operation is a given with wire rope hoists. In situations such as precision assembly, or any circumstance where loads are being interfaced with machines, loads must be moved in a certain way to avoid machine misalignment and potentially damaging something. The ability to control acceleration and deceleration, as well as the rate of these changes, is only found with modern wire rope hoists. Typically, this is the case where the designer expects to find chain drives and is disappointed about the costs of control.

Overhead Cranes — When You Need to Move the Load, Not Just Lift It

A hoist can only do a lift and lower at a fixed position. An overhead crane is able to lift and also translate the load across a defined work area. That distinction is what drives the application — if material needs to travel from one point to another on the factory floor, that’s an overhead crane. But if it just needs to go up and down at a fixed position, a hoist on a fixed mounting is adequate and much cheaper.

The structure of the building is arguably the most important part of planning an overhead crane installation, and arguably the most important part of the entire process. Runway girders create point loads on the columns and walls of buildings, structurally. A structural engineer needs to analyze the load-bearing steel of a building to determine if a crane can be installed, and not after the crane has been ordered. It is incredibly expensive, and causes delays to projects when structural building modifications need to be done after an order is placed.

Resting gantry cranes do not mount to a building, which means they do not have to create the same structural modifications as an overhead crane, but they still need to find appropriate locations to set them up. Free-standing gantry cranes need proper floor conditions, a set amount of vertical clearance, and the ability to manipulate the crane to different work locations.

Jib Cranes and Workstation Systems

Not all lifting applications require a complete crane system. Jib cranes, which can be wall or pillar-mounted, are ideal for machine-tending activities or component manipulation at a workstation. They can also be used in a single bay without using up the overhead runway space that may be needed elsewhere.

Workstation cranes are typically lightweight aluminium construction, and they span underslung tracks, so they’ve become the commonplace solution in assembly and packing areas when the load is below 2,000kg. The ergonomic advantage is huge. Operators are able to move the load with very little effort, and this decreases the risk of fatigue and injuries associated with repetition of the same task. Workstation crane systems are often the missing engineering control with respect to RIDDOR-reportable musculoskeletal injuries in assembly work.

LOLER — What the Regulations Actually Require

All lifting equipment for use at work is subject to LOLER. Most operators know this. Fewer are aware as to where the compliance gaps actually lie.The thorough examination requirement is where most common misconceptions lie. Each piece of equipment should be examined by a competent person within 6 or 12 months depending on the equipment. A competent person is someone who has the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge to carry out such examination and not just someone who holds a clipboard. Each examination should be documented and the documentation should be retained. If a defect is found that poses, or could imminently pose, serious injury, the document is submitted to the applicable enforcing authority, not just placed in a file.

Separate from thorough examination is the requirement of pre-use checks by the operator and management systems, rather than an external examiner. A hoist that was examined 11 months ago and is clean, will still result in a LOLER enforcement issue if there is no proof of pre-use checks, such as, visible damage, testing the brakes, rope and chain condition, that are performed on a daily basis.

Lifting accessories, while still part of your LOLER inspections, have their own separate regulations. These include the requirement for SWL (Safe Working Load) markings. SWL markings must be visible, clear, and match the purpose of the accessory. The use of multi-leg slings can change the effective Working Load Limit (WLL) based on the angle at which the sling is used. For example, a four-leg sling used at a wide load angle does not have a capacity of four times the capacity of one leg. This is where load security failures tend to occur. Unfortunately, most operator training does not include adequate coverage of this issue.

Responsibility on Hired Equipment and the Site

Unless equipment is used in a manner that is intentionally non-compliant with LOLER, the compliance responsibility follows the equipment to your site, regardless of whether you own or hire the equipment. The same is true for hired and used hoists in your facility. While under your control, your organisation will be responsible for the examination and pre-use check obligations. This is an expectation that surprises some operators, especially those who believe the hire company’s documentation is sufficient to cover them for compliance. It is not.