LOLER requires every lifting operation to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. BS 7121-1 sets out how that planning should be done. The amount of planning should match the risk: a repetitive pallet lift does not need the same effort as a tandem lift over live plant.
A common categorisation scheme
Many organisations sort lifts into categories so that the level of planning, supervision and approval follows the risk. Names and thresholds vary; a typical scheme looks like this:
| Category | Typical description |
|---|---|
| Routine | Repetitive lift covered by a standing plan: known load, equipment and area. |
| Simple | Known weight and centre of gravity, single machine, good access and ground. |
| Complex | Several machines, load near capacity, restricted space, poor ground or awkward load. |
| Critical | High consequence: over live plant or people, tandem lifts, personnel lifting, loads above a set share of capacity. |
Use your organisation's own definitions where they exist. The lift planners on this site record the category you choose together with notes on why.
What a lift plan should cover
- The load: weight, how it was determined, centre of gravity and lifting points.
- The equipment: machine, configuration, radius, capacity and percentage utilisation.
- Rigging: arrangement, sling angles, leg loads, gear sizes and certificates.
- Ground and set-up: bearing capacity, mats, excavations, services, slopes.
- The area: exclusion zone, obstructions, overhead lines, traffic, public.
- People: supervisor, operator, riggers, signaller, and how they communicate.
- Limits: wind speed, visibility, and when to stop.
- Hazards and controls, and emergency arrangements.
- Review and approval before the lift, and a briefing for everyone involved.
The Lift Planning module adds plan details, categorisation, a risk register and an approval step to each calculation, and prints the whole plan on A4.
General guidance only. It does not replace the manufacturer's data, the applicable standards or the judgement of a competent person.