Guidance on Essential Maintenance visits regarding LOLER and PUWER
We know in these uncertain times that balancing the care of your Residents against Essential Maintenance works is difficult, Dr Simon Festing the CEO of the British Health Trade Association has given advice to these concerns.
He says “Inspection and testing of equipment such as hoists, slings and bathlifts is necessary to ensure these items continue to be safe for use, as covered under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment (LOLER) Regulations 1998*.
“If establishments are in lock-down…”
And continues “If establishments are in lock-down, consideration should be given to whether the equipment can be brought to an outside location for testing and maintenance, such as a garage area. If it is not possible to do this a risk assessment should be carried out, balancing the risk of allowing access to the equipment in-situ and then cleaning and disinfecting, against the risk of the item failing if it is not taken out of use until inspection and testing can be carried out.
What is classed as essential?
At NH Maintenance we will exercise judgement to determine what is classed as an essential need, based on a risk assessment around patient /client safety, we want to work with yourselves to keep you compliant under LOLER and PUWER regulations.
We are more than happy to discuss your needs whether this is testing mobile equipment externally to your home or where this is not possible isolating areas where we need to attend.
Keeping your equipment serviceable
Dr Simon Festing makes a point that under *The Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) Regulations 1998 also require that lifting equipment used at work is maintained, and a blanket lock down on maintenance may result in equipment that is used on a daily basis having to be taken out of use. You can read the full article here.
If you have any doubts please contact our Operations team to discuss and we will endeavour to find a solution.
Contact us or visit our main website for further information on the services we can offer and “What sets us apart”!
With an NH Maintenance Service Contract, you can be assured you are in safe hands – we work with our clients to prevent call-outs and downtime, and your mind can be at rest knowing that your patient handling equipment is safe and compliant.
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Or to contact us please email sales@nhmaintenance.com or call 01444 250350
Want to know more about LOLER? see our post on advice here
For more information on HSE’s guidance on profiling beds:
HSE Electric profile beds in health care guidance
