WH Scott
Examination, Certification & Digital Reporting
Statutory examination of lifting equipment and accessories, with the certificate issued digitally on site — across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Overview
WH Scott carries out statutory thorough examination and certification of lifting equipment and lifting accessories across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and issues the report digitally, on site, before the engineer leaves.
The examination is only half of the duty. Under LOLER, regulation 9 requires the examination. Regulation 10 requires a report, authenticated by the competent person and containing everything in Schedule 1. Regulation 11 requires you to keep that report and produce it on request. The same is true for SI 299. Most organisations fail the second half rather than the first: the examination happened, the equipment is safe, and nobody can produce the evidence from the site the auditor is standing on.
We have been examining lifting equipment since 1897 and now complete around 400,000 statutory examinations a year. That volume only works because the record is created once — on the tablet, at the asset — and is in your asset register, your certificate library and your due-date forecast the moment the engineer signs it off. No re-keying, no transcription errors, no typed-up reports arriving a fortnight later.
What Our Examination, Certification and Digital Reporting Service Includes
Examination and certification Records, distribution and due-date control
- Instant generation of certificates once an engineer completes the inspection via a 4G-enabled tablet
- Option to automatically receive certificates to a single email or specified email per location as the inspections are completed
- Images taken of all failures/observations and made available for viewing online by the simple click of a button
- Access to an easy-to-navigate online dashboard to view images and download certificates
- Dashboard and login can be customised to view only assets in a specific location or region. Custom reporting feature includes export to Excel, PDF and/or CSV
- Immediate notification of any defect that is, or could become, a danger to persons, as regulation 10 requires — and notification of the relevant enforcing authority where there is an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury
- Defects described, categorised and costed, with the repair, renewal or alteration needed to remedy each one, and the date by which a latent defect could become a danger
- High-resolution images of every defect, observation and failure, attached to the asset record rather than to an email
- Remedial work completed by our own engineers, so a failed item does not become a separate procurement exercise
- An asset register carrying a unique distinguishing number for every item, with the full examination history held against each asset
- Automated distribution of certificates and reports to the contacts you nominate, per site or per region
- Due-date forecasting with overdue and due-in-30-days reporting ahead of every statutory examination falling due
- Task-specific RAMS — risk assessments and method statements — recorded against the inspection record
- Colour-coded tagging so inspection status is visible on the shop floor at a glance
- Secure, role-based online access to the full examination history: the evidence pack for an audit, a client PQQ, an insurer or an enforcing authority
- Programmes at any scale, from a single depot to multi-site portfolios running under one schedule and one portal
- All engineers use 4g-enabled tablets for inspections
- Prevents the need for excess administration
- Increased compliance as it saves the double handling of data
- Images can be uploaded against each inspection
- Reports made instantly available online once the engineer completes the inspection
- Automated emailing of reports
- Allows inspectors to add task-specific RAMS to an inspection, which are made available as online records
Equipment We Cover
If it lifts, lowers or supports a load, or lifts a person, it falls within scope. In practice that runs from a single webbing sling to an overhead travelling crane.
- Cranes and hoists — overhead and gantry cranes, jib and pillar cranes, mobile and tower cranes, lorry-loader cranes, electric and manual chain hoists, lever hoists, winches, runway and monorail beams, lifting and spreader beams
- Lifting accessories and loose tackle — chain, wire rope and webbing slings, roundslings, shackles, eyebolts, hooks, swivels, rings and links, plate and beam clamps, lifting magnets and vacuum lifting devices
- People-lifting and access equipment — MEWPs, scissor lifts, mast climbing work platforms, suspended access equipment, construction hoists, passenger, goods and platform lifts, patient hoists
- Materials handling and vehicle equipment — forklift trucks, telehandlers, vehicle tail lifts, vehicle lifting tables, and items provided for the support of lifting equipment
The list is not exhaustive; if your asset is not on it, ask. Our full equipment scope, the examination intervals for each class, and the difference between a thorough examination and an inspection are set out on our LOLER thorough examination and certification page.
Our Process: Examination to Digital Certificate
- Asset identification and scheduling — every item is logged with a unique distinguishing number and its own examination interval, set from LOLER regulation 9(3), from the Irish Schedule 1 Part B interval table, or from a written examination scheme where one is appropriate.
- On-site thorough examination — our competent person examines the equipment and its safety-critical parts: visual examination, functional and safety-device checks, measurement of wear against discard criteria, and testing where the examination calls for it.
- Digital data capture — results, observations, defect images and task-specific RAMS are recorded on a 4G-enabled tablet at the asset. The record is made once, where the equipment is, by the person who examined it.
- Instant certification — the report of thorough examination is generated on completion, carrying all eleven items required by LOLER Schedule 1, or the Part E particulars on Form GA1 in the Republic of Ireland, authenticated by the named examining engineer.
- Notification and distribution — certificates go automatically to the contacts you nominate. Any defect that is or could become a danger to persons is reported to you immediately; where there is an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, to the relevant enforcing authority as well.
- Online access — every certificate, image and defect record sits in the CoreRFID portal, filterable by site, region, asset class or due date, and exportable to Excel, PDF or CSV.
- Ongoing compliance management — due-date forecasting, overdue and due-in-30-days reporting, defect close-out tracking, and a complete examination history ready to hand to an auditor, an insurer or a client’s PQQ.
Certifications & Standards
Regulations we examine to
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), SI 1998/2307 — in particular regulation 7 (marking), regulation 9 (thorough examination and inspection), regulation 10 (reports and defects), regulation 11 (keeping of information) and Schedule 1 (report contents)
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999, SR 1999/304 — the equivalent duty for assets in Northern Ireland
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), SI 1998/2306 — applies alongside LOLER, covering the non-lifting functions of the same equipment
- Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, S.I. No. 299 of 2007 — Regulations 52 to 54 and Schedule 1 Parts B to E, with reports issued on HSA Form GA1
- The Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the corresponding Irish provisions, where access and height safety equipment is examined on the same visit
Standards, codes of practice and guidance applied
- L113 Safe use of lifting equipment — the LOLER Approved Code of Practice and guidance, including the competent-person standard at paragraph 296
- INDG474 Lifting equipment at work: a brief guide (HSE, 2017) — replaces INDG290 and INDG422, both withdrawn
- INDG339 Thorough examination and testing of lifts — HSE guidance for lift owners and dutyholders
- BS 7121 — Code of practice for the safe use of cranes
- BS EN 818, BS EN 1492 and BS EN 13155 — chain slings, textile slings and roundslings, and non-fixed load lifting attachments, for wear, deformation and discard criteria
- LEEA Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Lifting Equipment — the industry standard for member companies
- HSA Guide to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the General Application Regulations, for equipment examined in the Republic of Ireland
Accredited, audited, insurable
- Member of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA)
- Certified to ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environmental), ISO 45001 (health and safety) and ISO 27001 (information security) by Centre for Assessment. ISO 27001 matters on this page in particular: it is the control framework that protects your digital examination records from unauthorised alteration, which is precisely the condition HSE attaches to records not kept in hard copy.
- SSIP via SafeContractor · Acclaim Accreditation · Constructionline Gold · Achilles UVDB Verify · Procure Partnerships Framework partner
- Group testing and inspection accreditation is held by Metlab and issued by INAB, the Irish National Accreditation Board: ISO/IEC 17025 (Reg. 398T), ISO/IEC 17020 (Reg. 9031) and ISO/IEC 17024 (Reg. 7007)
Related Services
LOLER Thorough Examination & Certification
Statutory thorough examination of lifting equipment and accessories under LOLER 1998.
Proof Load Testing
A proof load test applies a controlled load in excess of an item’s safe working load, under measured conditions, to prove that it carries its rated capacity without permanent deformation, cracking or loss of function.
Lifting Equipment Inspection Ireland
Lifting equipment inspection in Ireland helps employers meet their duties under S.I. No. 299 of 2007 by ensuring lifting equipment and accessories are inspected, thoroughly examined and, where required, tested by a competent person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are digital certificates legally valid?
Yes. The report to be in writing and authenticated by signature “or equally secure means”, and confirms records need not be kept in hard copy, provided you can produce a written copy on request and the records are protected from unauthorised alteration.
How quickly is the certificate issued after the examination?
On completion, on site. The report of thorough examination is generated the moment the engineer closes the examination on the tablet, and is in the portal and with your nominated contacts immediately — not typed up and posted days later.
What must a report of thorough examination contain?
The eleven items listed in LOLER Schedule 1 — covering the employer and premises, identification of the equipment, its safe working load, the reason for and date of the examination, any defect and the remedial action required, the date the next examination falls due, particulars of any test, and the examiner’s details. Every certificate we issue carries all eleven. The full Schedule 1 list is set out on our LOLER thorough examination and certification page.
Can we still get a paper copy for an auditor or a hirer?
Yes. Any certificate can be printed or exported as a PDF at any time. HSE expects a duty holder to be able to produce a written copy when required, including when lifting equipment leaves your undertaking on hire, for use elsewhere, or on second-hand sale. The digital record is the master; a printed copy is a view of it.
Who owns the records, and what happens if we change provider?
The records are yours. Your asset register, examination history, defect records and certificates can be exported in full to Excel, PDF or CSV at any point, so your compliance evidence is never locked to us. Access is role-based, so you decide which sites and which people can see what.
Do you issue GA1 reports for equipment in the Republic of Ireland?
Yes. Equipment in the Republic of Ireland is examined under S.I. No. 299 of 2007 rather than LOLER, and we issue reports on HSA Form GA1, recording the particulars required by Schedule 1 Part E. Irish assets sit in the same register and the same portal as your Great Britain and Northern Ireland equipment, so a cross-border estate holds one compliance position rather than three
Get in Touch
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.