LOLER Inspections Stoke-on-Trent
Lifting Equipment Inspections
If your LOLER certificate has just lapsed or the renewal date is approaching, you’re in the right place.
GSB Inspections carries out LOLER thorough examinations for businesses across Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area. Our engineers are competent persons under Regulation 9 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. We are a SAFed Associate Member with a 5.0 Google rating.
Send us your equipment list and location and we’ll come back with a quote within 48 hours. No call centre. No broker chain. No being handed between departments.
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LOLER Inspections Stoke-on-Trent
Lifting Equipment Inspections
If your LOLER certificate has just lapsed or the renewal date is approaching, you’re in the right place.
GSB Inspections carries out LOLER thorough examinations for businesses across Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area. Our engineers are competent persons under Regulation 9 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. We are a SAFed Associate Member with a 5.0 Google rating.
Send us your equipment list and location and we’ll come back with a quote within 48 hours. No call centre. No broker chain. No being handed between departments.
When A LOLER Thorough Examination Becomes Due
Regulation 9 of LOLER sets out the examination scheme requirement: every item of lifting equipment must be thoroughly examined by a competent person at statutory intervals, and a written report produced after each examination. The intervals most businesses work to are:
- Every 6 months — lifting accessories (slings, chains, shackles, hooks), equipment used to lift people, and vehicle inspection lifts where a person works beneath the raised vehicle.
- Every 12 months — all other lifting equipment, including forklifts, overhead hoists, and tail lifts.
- Before first use — any newly installed equipment, or equipment that has undergone significant modification or repair.
- Following exceptional circumstances — after a known or suspected overload, structural damage, or an extended period out of service.
For businesses in Stoke-on-Trent running mixed fleets — say, a hydraulics firm with both overhead cranes and sling sets, or a plant hire company with excavator attachments alongside telehandlers — some items will be on a six-month cycle and others on twelve. Keeping track of which certificate covers which item, and when each falls due, is one of the practical compliance challenges our engineers help clients resolve.
If your certificates have already lapsed, that does not disqualify you from inspection. It means the examination is overdue, and the more pressing reason to schedule it now. Operating lifting equipment without a valid thorough examination report is not a technicality — it is a breach of LOLER, and one the HSE can act on.
Lifting Equipment We Examine Across Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent has an unusually wide spread of lifting equipment in use across its businesses. The city’s industrial economy ranges from precision engineering and hydraulics manufacturing to arboriculture, residential care, automotive bodywork, and plant hire — each sector bringing its own equipment requirements under LOLER.
We examine:
- Forklift trucks and telehandlers — counterbalance, reach, side-loader, and rough-terrain variants
- Overhead cranes and gantry beams — including runway beams, monorails, and jib cranes in engineering and fabrication shops
- Vehicle inspection lifts — two-post, four-post, and scissor lifts in automotive repair and tyre workshops
- Lifting accessories — slings (chain, wire rope, webbing), shackles, hooks, swivels, and eyebolts
- Tail lifts and lorry-loader cranes (HIABs) — across logistics, haulage, and coach hire operators
- Patient hoists and ceiling track systems — in residential care homes, healthcare facilities, and specialist education settings
- MEWPs and cherry pickers — including boom lifts and spider platforms used in roofing, arboriculture, and telecommunications work
- Goods lifts and dumbwaiters — in food production, retail, and multi-storey commercial premises
- Winches and pulling equipment — including arborist winches, recovery winches, and industrial capstans
If you are not certain whether a specific piece of equipment falls under LOLER, include it in your equipment list when you enquire. We will confirm coverage as part of the quotation.
What Your Engineer Does On The Day
Most buyers want to know what to expect on the day, not just what the regulation requires. A typical visit runs as follows.
1
On site.
Your engineer arrives at the agreed time. There is no need to take equipment out of service ahead of the visit — the engineer works through the list methodically at your site, fitting around your operational schedule where possible.
2
Thorough examination.
Each item is systematically examined by a competent person: structural integrity, mechanical condition, safe working load markings, any signs of deformation, corrosion, or wear that could compromise safe use. Where testing is required — proof load, function test, brake test — this is carried out at the time of examination. If a defect is found that is, or could become, a danger to people, you are told on the day — not weeks later in a written report.
3
You receive a Report of Thorough Examination for each item, covering the findings, any defects identified, the recommended timescale for remediation, and the next examination due date. Where a defect is an imminent danger, we notify the relevant enforcing authority as required under LOLER.
4
Records.
Reports are delivered electronically to your email address, typically on the day of inspection. They meet the eleven requirements of LOLER Schedule 1 and are accepted by insurers, internal auditors, and HSE inspectors alike.
The administrative side matters as much as the engineering. Most compliance managers in Stoke-on-Trent are running obligations across multiple regulations — LOLER, PUWER, PSSR — often on multiple sites. The value of a competent inspector is partly the examination itself and partly the fact that the report arrives in your inbox on time, correctly completed.
Who Enforces LOLER In Stoke-on-Trent, And What That Means For Your Reporting
LOLER enforcement in Stoke-on-Trent is split between two bodies, depending on the nature of the workplace.
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the enforcing authority for industrial premises across the city: manufacturing and engineering businesses in Etruria Valley and Fenton, logistics and distribution operations, construction sites, food production facilities, plant hire depots, and most of the productive economy in areas like Tunstall and Longton. The majority of businesses on Stoke-on-Trent’s industrial estates fall under HSE jurisdiction.
- Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s environmental health team is the enforcing authority for non-industrial workplaces: retail premises, offices, hospitality and leisure venues, care homes, schools and academies, and most city-centre commercial buildings. Contact: Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1HH.
The compliance requirement is identical whichever authority applies to your premises. What changes is which body would investigate following a workplace incident involving lifting equipment, and which authority the competent person must notify when a defect constitutes or could become an imminent danger.
For operators whose activities span both categories — a roofing contractor with workshop premises in Fenton and site offices in the city centre, or a healthcare provider running clinical facilities alongside office-based administration — the split is worth understanding. A notifiable defect at the workshop goes to HSE; a notifiable defect at the office goes to the City Council environmental health team. The duty to have equipment inspected at statutory intervals is identical in both cases.
Our Commitment To Your Safety
We Are A Proud Associate Member Of The Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed)
As an associate member of the Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed), GSB Inspections demonstrates our commitment to complying with industry competency standards and the code of practice set by SAFed. This affiliation emphasizes our dedication to maintaining the highest levels of professionalism, ensuring your safety and peace of mind.
LOLER Inspections In Stoke-on-Trent
GSB Inspections carries out lifting equipment inspections across Staffordshire and the surrounding areas. As per Regulation 9 of LOLER, it is mandatory to have a competent person conduct a thorough examination of lifting equipment at statutory intervals.
We cover all six towns of the city — Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton, and Longton — along with Newcastle-under-Lyme, Kidsgrove, Cheadle, Blythe Bridge, and Leek. Key employment areas within our regular coverage include Etruria Valley, Festival Park, Trentham Lakes, Fenton Industrial Estate, Chatterley Park, and Queensway Industrial Estate.
The businesses we work with across this area span hydraulics and precision engineering, automotive repair and vehicle bodywork, roofing and construction, logistics and plant hire, food production, residential care and healthcare, tree surgery and arboriculture, industrial gases, fire and security, academy schools, and waste-to-energy operations.
We also provide LOLER inspections in Stafford and thorough examinations in Burton-on-Trent. If your premises are within the North Staffordshire travel-to-work area, include your postcode when you enquire and we will confirm coverage.
Direct Contact. Fast Scheduling. No Broker Chain.
Many inspection companies that rank well for Stoke-on-Trent are national platforms: they take the enquiry centrally, assign it to a regional sub-contractor, and pass paperwork between three parties before your site even gets a visit date.
GSB works differently. Your enquiry reaches senior staff directly — the people who understand the compliance requirement, can read an equipment list, and can confirm coverage without three internal approvals. We sell inspections only. No equipment, no maintenance contracts, no parts — nothing that creates a financial interest in what we find.
- Ring 01782 855481 and you reach senior staff directly.
- Email info@gsbinspections.co.uk with an equipment list and we will come back with a quote within 48 hours.
- We are a SAFed Associate Member and hold a 5.0 Google rating across our customer base.
- We are competent persons under Regulation 9 of LOLER and likewise for pressure system inspections in Stoke-on-Trent and forklift truck inspections in Stoke-on-Trent if you need broader compliance coverage.
Useful Stoke-on-Trent Compliance Resources
Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1HH
The enforcing authority for LOLER in non-industrial workplaces across the city: retail, leisure, care premises, offices, and hospitality venues. The environmental health team handles workplace health and safety enforcement for premises outside HSE jurisdiction.
Commerce House, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 5BE
Telephone: 01782 202222
The accredited chamber for Stoke, Stafford, and the Staffordshire Moorlands. A useful peer network for compliance contacts, training resources, and business support across the North Staffordshire economy.
The authoritative source for LOLER intervals, the competent person definition, and Schedule 1 reporting requirements.
GSB Inspections Reviews
Client Satisfaction
Excellent service very competent knowledgeable and professional staff Would highly recommend
Carl Eades
My first contact was with Gary and he dealt with my query and questions brilliantly. He explained the process, it was easy to sort and it went smoothly. Expected contact... read more
Mrs B
Prompt and professional friendly service.
Apples & Pears Nursery
Great service. Would highly recommend and will use again.
Jade Furey
Inspected transferable winch units with, greatly appreciated, additional guidance covering separate requirements for accompanying D shackles and inspection schedule. Very diligent service and great value.
Andrew Piekarczyk
Excellent service & communications
Gary Jackson
Gary has been doing MPi ltd's lifting certifications, air compressor tank and roller shutter door inspections for a number of years now. I have always found him a pleasure to... read more
matt page
Well what a great service Gary provides, always does a very thorough job, can't recommend enough, we always Gary really great guy.
Daz Griffiths
Excellent service, very thorough and practical
Kerry Callear
Gary has been doing our certifications for the last few years. Very professional and very reliable. A**
Rob Scanlan
Been using GSB for a year, great service keeping all our plant and machinery in certification
James Plant
Service, communication, support and advice has been excellent, Garry has gone out of his way to support our school with issues arisen from council maintenance, he has gone out of... read more
Miss H Morrey
Great bloke, reliable, informative, pleasure to deal with.
Gary Jackson
Got Questions? (FAQs)
The intervals are set by Regulation 9 of LOLER. Lifting accessories and equipment used to lift people must be thoroughly examined at least every six months — this includes vehicle inspection lifts, since a person works beneath the raised vehicle during use. All other lifting equipment, including forklifts, overhead hoists, and tail lifts, must be examined at least every twelve months. Your competent person may recommend shorter intervals where the equipment’s condition, intensity of use, or operating environment warrants it.
In practice, they refer to the same process — a systematic, detailed assessment of the lifting equipment by a competent person. “Thorough examination” is the term used in the regulation itself (Regulation 9 of LOLER 1998); “inspection” is the term most operators use day to day. The formal output is a Report of Thorough Examination covering the item, its condition, any defects found, and the next examination due date.
Any business that uses lifting equipment for work purposes falls under LOLER — the regulation is not limited to heavy industry. That includes vehicle garages using two-post lifts, care homes using patient hoists, tree surgeons using MEWPs and arborist winches, roofing contractors using materials hoists, logistics operators running tail lifts, and engineering shops with overhead cranes or chain blocks. If the equipment lifts or lowers a load as part of work activity, LOLER applies.
The competent person categorises the defect in the Report of Thorough Examination. Defects that are an existing danger require the equipment to be taken out of service immediately. Defects that could become a danger are reported with a recommended timescale for remediation. Your engineer will tell you verbally on the day what has been found and what action is needed.
Yes. We cover all six towns of the city alongside surrounding areas including Newcastle-under-Lyme, Kidsgrove, Biddulph, Cheadle, Blythe Bridge, and Stone. If your premises are within the North Staffordshire travel-to-work area, include your postcode when you enquire and we will confirm coverage.
Email your equipment list and site location to info@gsbinspections.co.uk. Include each item of lifting equipment, its type, and your postcode. We will send a quote within 48 hours. There is no obligation, and no one will call you without being asked.
Require A LOLER Inspection In Stoke-on-Trent?
No broker chain, no call centre — your enquiry reaches senior staff directly.
Please complete the form below. Include your equipment list and postcode to speed up the process.
info@gsbinspections.co.uk
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