Equipment statutory examinations

Those who provide work equipment for use of an employed person include those who hire, lease or rent equipment for construction work. Hirers need to ensure that the equipment meets the standards required by the Provision and Use of Equipment Regulations and other relevant legislation. The equipment must be properly maintained and provided with any in-date Statutory Examination Reports. 

Only lifting equipment that is in date for statutory examination will be used. Manufacturer s instructions will be checked to ensure that methods of sling attachment and slinging arrangements generally are correct. 

Chapter 4.5 Statutory examination of plant and equipment (J. McMullen and updated by Cameron Sinclair)... 

The safe working load means that specified on the last test certificate, or report of examination, or as specified by the manufacturer/supplier. The equipment must be supplied with a test certificate before being used under any of the relevant Statutory Instruments, and re-tested after any substantial repair or modification. 

There is no precise guidance in the statute or in subsequent case law as to what constitutes competence. However, the competency of a person to carry out particular examinations or tests is a matter of fact on which the occupier or owner of the statutory equipment must be satisfied. In the event of legal proceedings it will require to be demonstrated in court that the person chosen was indeed competent to carry out the statutory surveys. 

Apart from the moral and statutory requirements which may provide the emphasis for good occupational health and safety practice by employers, the benefit to be gained for the cost is constantly being demanded. To enable a full understanding of this, the life of a piece of equipment, component or process must be examined. This will generally involve the following issues ... 

Copies of statutory thorough examinations of lifting equipment will be kept on site. Before selection of lifting equipment, the above standards will be considered as well as the weight, size, shape and centre of gravity of the load. Lifting equipment is subject to the planned maintenance programme. 

Specific statutory (or thorough) examinations of, for example, lifting equipment or pressure vessels, have to be carried out at intervals laid down in written schemes by competent persons - usually specially trained and experienced inspection/insurance company personnel. 

Apart from tiie visual inspection of the LEV equipment, a statutory thorough examination xmder COSHH would include some of the following tests ... 

Although the primary containment is closed up when the plant is in operation, access can be gained within a few hours of shutdown. Examination of circulators, valves and other remotely operated equipment is not then difficult. Also inspection of major pressure circuit components, such as the steam drums, does not require other plant to be disassembled. Though such operations will need to be done under health physics control, there is no reason why statutory and any other regular inspections should not be carried out comparatively swiftly and readily to a planned schedule. 

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