LOLER 1998 · Lifting equipment

Tail lift thorough examination

Independent thorough examination and certification of your tail lift as lifting equipment, by a competent person under LOLER.

A tail lift turns the back of a lorry into a loading bay anywhere the lorry can park. It raises a platform of palletised goods, or a wheelchair user on an accessible vehicle, between the ground and the load bed. What it carries sets how often it is examined, and the platform edge is where the risk lives.

• Independent and impartial
• Competent engineer surveyors
• Reports issued promptly

Why your tail lift needs LOLER examination

A tail lift fitted to a lorry or van is lifting equipment under LOLER. A goods tail lift, the kind that loads and unloads palletised stock, roll cages and trolleys, is thoroughly examined at least every twelve months. A tail lift that carries a person, a passenger or wheelchair lift on a coach, an ambulance or an accessible vehicle, is examined every six months, because it then lifts people. A competent person, independent of whoever maintains the vehicle, carries out the examination, and where a person can ever be lifted the six month interval applies.

The examination follows the load from the bed to the ground and back. A competent person proves the hydraulic rams, the pump and the holding valve that keeps the platform up rather than letting it creep down, the lift arms or jib and their pivot pins, where a cantilever lift works hardest, and the platform itself: the hinges, the wear pads, and the toe guards and roll-stops that stop a load, or a wheel, running off the edge. The controls, including any two-hand or hold-to-run operation, are proven too, because a tail lift moves heavy loads at the exact height where a slip becomes an injury.

How we examine your tail lift

A competent person works the tail lift through its full travel, with and without a representative load, from the bed to the ground. We examine the hydraulic rams, the pump and the holding valve, the lift arms or jib and their pivots, the platform, hinges and wear pads, and prove the roll-stops, toe guards and the controls, because a tail lift carries heavy loads, and sometimes people, right at the edge where there is nothing below but the road.

• 1

  Get in touch

  Tell us the tail lifts in the fleet, the type and capacity, and whether any carry people.

• 2

  On-site examination

  A competent person works each tail lift through its full travel, with a test load where needed.

• 3

  Your record

  You receive a Report of Thorough Examination for each tail lift, with anything to address flagged and the next date set.