WH SCOTT

Lifting Equipment and Inspection Services for Utility Networks

Pumping stations, substations, treatment works and network sites are rarely standard. We engineer, install, examine and maintain the lifting equipment that keeps them serviceable — from 14 depots across the UK and Ireland.

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Lifting Across Water, Power and Gas Networks

Utility estates are made up of hundreds of small, largely unmanned sites: clean and wastewater treatment works, pumping stations, service reservoirs, primary and distribution substations, gas governor sites, generation plant and renewable installations. On most of them a fixed davit, jib or gantry is the only practical way to lift a submersible pump, screen, penstock actuator, valve or transformer out for maintenance.

WH Scott Group designs, supplies, installs, examines and maintains that equipment for utilities operators and their framework contractors across the UK and Ireland. Because design, fabrication and installation and statutory examination sit inside one group, a single davit at a wet well and a 50-tonne crane in a turbine hall can be held on the same asset register, the same inspection schedule and the same certification records.

For sub-sector detail, see our water industry lifting equipment and power and energy lifting solutions pages.

What Makes Utilities Lifting Different

Four conditions drive equipment choice on utility sites. Getting any of them wrong either shortens the life of the installation or stops the job on the day.

Corrosive, wet duty. Washdown, chemical dosing, sewage gases and coastal exposure attack fasteners, bearings and hoist electrics. Galvanised or stainless construction and suitably rated enclosures are specification decisions, not later upgrades.
Confined and below-ground access. Wet wells, dry wells, valve chambers and inspection pits need davits, portable gantries and lifting beams matched to the opening — and sockets and anchor points that carry their own certification, separate from the arm fitted into them.
Hazardous atmospheres. Methane and hydrogen sulphide at wastewater sites, and natural gas on the network, create zoned areas where hoists, cranes and controls must be selected to the classification rather than adapted to it afterwards.
Dispersed, unmanned estates. Lifting assets spread over hundreds of sites are easy to lose sight of, and an out-of-date report of thorough examination will stop planned work in a fixed outage window.

Equipment, Installation and Ongoing Support

We specify around the asset and the access rather than a catalogue: overhead gantry cranes from 100 kg to 250 tonnes, wall- and pillar-mounted jib cranes, mobile and A-frame gantries where a permanent structure is not justified, davits, and bespoke lifting beams and frames for awkward or asymmetric loads. Design, fabrication and installation are completed in-house to EN 1090, with approval to Execution Class 4.

For classified areas we supply EX-rated cranes, hoists and controls for gas and dust zones 1/21 and 2/22. Radio remote control lets operators work at a safe standoff from open wet wells and live plant, with a clear line of sight to the load.

After installation the same engineers keep the equipment in service: preventative crane maintenance, load testing, refurbishment and modernisation of existing cranes, breakdown attendance and statutory examination. Reports are issued digitally through the CoreRFID portal, so asset registers and certification stay in one place across a multi-site estate.

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Tell Us About Your Project

Whether you need a single piece of equipment or a fully engineered lifting system, our specialists can help. Tell us your load, environment and compliance requirements — we’ll do the rest.

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Lifting Equipment Compliance in the UK and Ireland

In Great Britain, LOLER 1998 requires lifting equipment used to lift people, and all lifting accessories, to be thoroughly examined at least every six months, and other lifting equipment at least every twelve — unless a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person sets different intervals. PUWER 1998 covers suitability, maintenance, inspection and operator training. Where flammable gases or vapours are present, area classification and control of ignition sources are employer duties under DSEAR 2002.

Irish duties are set out separately. Lifting equipment is dealt with in Part 2, Chapter 2 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007), covering examination and testing, the competent person’s report and the records an employer must keep. Examination intervals are in Schedule 1, Part B — six months for lifting accessories and equipment used to lift persons, twelve months for other lifting equipment — and explosive atmospheres are addressed in Part 8. We carry out LOLER thorough examination and certification in Great Britain and S.I. 299 lifting equipment inspection in Ireland as an ISO 9001-certified LEEA member and full SAFed member.