LOLER 1998 · Lifting equipment

Scissor lift table thorough examination

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

A scissor lift table raises goods to a working height: a pallet to a bench, a load to a dock, a part to the line. It is not a MEWP and it does not carry people, so it falls to the twelve month interval. What it must never do is drop, or close on someone working beneath it.

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  • Independent and impartial
  • Competent engineer surveyors
  • Reports issued promptly
12 monthsThe interval for a goods scissor table, which lifts loads not people
Holding valveA check valve that stops the table dropping if a hose fails
PropA maintenance prop, because no one works under it on hydraulics alone
ReportA Report of Thorough Examination, your legal record
Lifting equipment we examine

Why your scissor lift table needs LOLER examination

A scissor lift table is goods-lifting equipment: a hydraulic ram drives a scissor mechanism that raises a flat platform so a load can be worked at the right height. Because it lifts loads and not people, LOLER requires a thorough examination at least every twelve months, by a competent person independent of whoever maintains it. That is the floor, not the ceiling. Heavy, continuous use in production or distribution often brings the interval in, and a competent person can set a shorter one in a written scheme. This is a goods table, distinct from a scissor MEWP, which carries people and is examined every six months.

The examination centres on the two things that can hurt someone: a table that drops, and a scissor that closes. A competent person proves the scissor arms and their pivot pins and bushes, where wear and play build up, and the hydraulic ram and the holding or check valve that has to keep the table up even if a hose bursts. Then the parts that protect anyone near it: the maintenance prop that physically holds the platform for work underneath, because the hydraulics alone are never trusted for that, and the trapping and shear-point guarding, the toe protection and bellows skirts that keep feet and hands out of the closing scissor.

Fixed scissor lift tables
Pit-mounted lift tables
Mobile scissor tables
Scissor arms, pins and bushes
Hydraulic ram and holding valve
Maintenance prop
Trap and shear-point guarding
Platform and connection pins
How it works

How we examine your scissor lift table

A competent person raises and lowers the table through its travel, with and without a representative load, and proves the parts that stop it dropping or closing on anyone. We examine the scissor pins and bushes for wear and play, the ram and the holding valve that keeps the table up if a hose fails, the maintenance prop, and the trap and shear-point guarding, because a goods table is safe only while it holds its height and keeps hands and feet out of the scissor.

  • 1

    Get in touch

    Tell us the scissor tables you run, fixed or mobile, and where they are based.

  • 2

    On-site examination

    A competent person raises each table through its travel, with a test load where needed.

  • 3

    Your record

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

Why businesses choose SEIS

  • Independent and impartial: we examine the table, we do not supply or maintain it
  • Competent persons who prove the holding valve and the maintenance prop, not just the lift
  • Fixed, pit-mounted and mobile scissor tables examined to LOLER
  • Reports issued promptly, with defects and the next due date set out clearly
What we examine

Scissor lift table: what a thorough examination covers

Scissor pins

The scissor arms and their pivot pins and bushes examined for wear and play, because the pins carry the load through the X and play there lets the table rack and tilt.

Holding valve

The hydraulic ram and the holding or check valve proved, because the valve keeps the table up if a hose bursts, turning a burst hose into a stopped table rather than a dropped load.

Maintenance prop

The maintenance prop examined and its use confirmed, because no one works under a raised table on the hydraulics alone, and the prop is what physically holds it.

Shear-point guarding

The trapping and shear-point guarding, the toe protection and bellows skirts examined, because the closing scissor is the main way a lift table injures a hand or foot.

Platform pins

The platform and its connection pins checked, because the pins tie the deck to the scissor and are easy to overlook until they work loose.

Controls and limits

The controls and the up and down limit switches proved, because a failed limit lets the table over-run its travel at the top or bottom.

Intervals and certification

How often, and what you receive

A scissor lift table that lifts goods is examined at least every twelve months. In practice heavy, continuous use in production or distribution brings the interval in, and a competent person can set a shorter one in a written scheme. A table altered to lift a person would be treated as people-lifting equipment and examined every six months, but that is a different machine from the goods table covered here. Whatever the interval, the examination is independent of the maintenance, and the holding valve and the maintenance prop are proven every time, because the two ways a lift table hurts someone are dropping a load and closing on a hand, and both are designed out by parts that have to be checked.

6 monthsEquipment that lifts people, and all lifting accessories
12 monthsOther lifting equipment, unless an examination scheme sets otherwise
Schedule 1A Report of Thorough Examination, your legal record
IndependentWe examine it, we do not sell or maintain it

You receive a Report of Thorough Examination, the record LOLER requires, with anything that needs attention set out clearly.

The price follows your equipment, not a rate card: see what drives a LOLER quote.

Full statutory cover

Part of our full LOLER inspection service

Scissor lift table is one of the many kinds of equipment we cover. We inspect the full range, across every sector, as an independent provider, one item or a whole site, anywhere in the UK.

See our full LOLER inspection service
Other services

Other statutory inspections we carry out

Many sites run more than one regime. We can examine all of it, under one independent provider.

PUWER inspectionInspection of work equipment against the five PUWER duties, with a written record. PSSR examinationWritten Schemes and certified examination of pressure systems. LEV testingLEV thorough examination and test of your extraction systems.
LOLER FAQs

Scissor lift table examination: common questions

Does a scissor lift table need a LOLER thorough examination?
Yes. A scissor lift table raises and lowers loads, so it is lifting equipment and LOLER applies. You can read the duty in the HSE guidance on LOLER.
How often must a scissor lift table be examined?
At least every twelve months, because it lifts goods and not people. Heavy, continuous use brings the interval in, set by a competent person in a written scheme.
Is it a certificate or a report?
You receive a Report of Thorough Examination, the record LOLER requires. People call it the LOLER certificate, which is fair shorthand, but the legal document is the report. Our guide to LOLER sets out what it must contain.
How is it different from a scissor lift MEWP?
A MEWP carries people, so it is examined every six months. A scissor lift table lifts goods to a working height and is examined every twelve months. They look alike, but the interval follows what is lifted.
Can someone work under a raised scissor table?
Only with the maintenance prop in place. The hydraulics alone are never trusted to hold the table for work underneath, so the prop is examined and its use is the rule, not the exception.
What stops the table dropping if a hose bursts?
A holding or check valve at the ram holds the table up if pressure is lost. We prove it at the examination, because it is what turns a burst hose into a stopped table rather than a falling load.
What about the gap where the scissor closes?
The trapping and shear points are guarded with toe protection and bellows skirts. We examine that guarding, because the closing scissor is the main way a lift table can injure a hand or a foot.
Do you examine scissor tables across the UK?
Yes. We work nationwide, attending factories, warehouses and workshops wherever they are. Call 0330 043 8191 to arrange a visit that suits the site.

Is your scissor lift table due a thorough examination?

Talk to an engineer surveyor, get a quote and book your inspection anywhere in the UK.

0330 043 8191 Request a quote