Sector statutory inspections

Statutory Inspections for Agriculture & Farming

LOLER, PUWER, PSSR and COSHH LEV compliance from one independent inspection body.

Agriculture carries the worst fatal injury rate of any major British industry, and lifting kit is close to the heart of it: telehandlers, foreloaders and the attachments that swap between them all sit under LOLER, examined on fixed cycles.

SEIS comes to the farm. One engineer surveyor covers the machines, the attachments and the workshop in a single visit, timed around milking, harvest and housing.

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Independent & impartial
Competent engineer surveyors
Reports issued promptly

6-monthly

Cycle for every removable lifting attachment

12-monthly

Cycle for telehandlers and foreloaders lifting loads

On farm

Examinations at your yard, not a depot

Highest risk

Agriculture's fatal injury rate leads all major sectors

Farm cover

Arable, livestock, dairy and mixed enterprises
Contractors and machinery rings
Examinations on the farm, around the farming calendar
Attachments examined alongside the machines they serve

What needs inspecting

What needs inspecting on a farm

The machine and its attachments run on different clocks, and that is the gap that catches farms out. A telehandler lifting loads sits on a 12 month thorough examination cycle, but every removable attachment is a lifting accessory examined every 6 months: bale spikes, grabs, buckets used for lifting, man baskets and the chains in the workshop.

Equipment	Regime	Statutory position	What you receive
Telehandlers	LOLER	Every 12 months lifting loads, every 6 months where fitted with a platform to lift people	Report of Thorough Examination
Tractor foreloaders	LOLER	Thorough examination at least every 12 months	Report of Thorough Examination
Bale spikes, grabs and lifting buckets	LOLER	Every 6 months as removable lifting attachments	Report of Thorough Examination
Chains, slings and hooks	LOLER	Every 6 months, each item individually identified	Report of Thorough Examination
Workshop cranes and hoists	LOLER	Thorough examination at least every 12 months	Report of Thorough Examination
Grain augers, elevators and feed conveyors	PUWER	Inspection at risk-based intervals, no fixed statutory date	Written record of inspection
Workshop compressors	PSSR	Written Scheme where the system exceeds 250 bar litres, report within 28 days	Written Scheme certification and examination report
Workshop welding extraction	COSHH	LEV thorough examination and test at least every 14 months	LEV test report to HSG258

A PUWER inspection produces a written record, not a certificate; the record is kept at least until the next inspection. Attachments hired or borrowed for a season still need a current examination while they are in your control.

Sector compliance

Compliance that comes to the yard

The HSE runs a standing focus on agriculture precisely because the sector's machinery kills and maims at a rate no other major industry matches. Inspections on farms increasingly ask for the same evidence a factory would produce: current examination reports for everything that lifts.

The attachment is the gap

The pattern our engineer surveyors see most is a telehandler with a current report and a rack of attachments with none. In law each spike, grab and bucket used for lifting is an accessory in its own right on the 6 month cycle, whichever machine it happens to be on that day.

The same logic covers the workshop: the chain block over the pit and the slings on the wall are accessories too, and a set that only comes out at harvest still needs to be in date when it does.

How SEIS works on a farm

Examinations happen at your yard, planned around the farming calendar rather than against it: before harvest for the handling kit, housing season for the livestock buildings, and whenever a machine can genuinely be spared. Contractors and machinery rings get the same programme across a shared fleet.

Reports arrive through the client portal with every attachment itemised against its machine, so a Red Tractor or insurer request is answered from one place rather than a drawer in the farm office.

Related services

Telescopic handler examinations12 month cycles for telehandlers, 6 month for platforms Fork lift truck examinationsThorough examinations covering LOLER and PUWER together LOLER inspection servicesInspection, testing and certification for all lifting equipment LOLER regulations explainedThe duty holder guide to intervals, reports and defects

Common questions

Agriculture & Farming inspection FAQs

Do you come out to farms?

Yes. Examinations are carried out at your yard or field store across our national coverage, from a single foreloader to a contractor fleet, with no requirement to bring machines to a depot.

How quickly can you attend?

Usually within a few working days, and we plan seasonal kit ahead of the season it works. Call 0330 043 8191 and we will fit around milking, harvest or housing.

How often does a telehandler need examining?

At least every 12 months when it lifts loads, and at least every 6 months when it is fitted with a work platform to lift people. The attachment on the front carries its own separate cycle. Our LOLER regulations guide sets out the full intervals.

Do bale spikes and grabs really need their own examination?

Yes. Removable attachments are lifting accessories in their own right and must be thoroughly examined at least every 6 months, individually identified, whichever machine carries them.

Does LOLER apply to a family farm with no employees?

LOLER applies to lifting equipment used at work, and that includes sole traders and family partnerships. The HSE publishes agriculture-specific guidance at hse.gov.uk.

What about the grain auger and the feed conveyors?

They are work equipment under PUWER, inspected at risk-based intervals set by a competent person, with a written record kept. There is no fixed statutory date and no certificate for PUWER items.

Is the workshop compressor covered by anything?

If the system exceeds 250 bar litres, and many farm workshop receivers do, PSSR requires a certified Written Scheme of Examination before use and examination to that scheme, with the report inside 28 days.

What happens if something fails its examination?

The report states the defect and the date by which it must be fixed, and where there is an existing or imminent risk of serious injury the item comes out of service immediately and the enforcing authority also receives the report. We tell you on the day, in person.

Book statutory inspections for your Agriculture & Farming operation

0330 043 8191 Request a quote