Lifts and lifting equipment policy

believe housing is committed to providing a safe environment for its colleagues, customers, visitors and contractors. Part of this safety responsibility is ensuring that, where we own and retain the duty to maintain, all lifts and lifting equipment used in our homes is safe.
believe housing will work closely with our customer in relation to giving advice on safe use of lifting equipment and will act upon any concerns raised.

This policy recognises our legal obligations in relation to lifts and lifting equipment and demonstrates how believe housing will comply in accordance with current legislation.

As a business responsible for residential properties, workplaces, communal areas and other premises that contain lifts and lifting equipment, we recognise our legal and moral obligations, and the risks associated with this equipment will be managed in accordance with current legislations and guidance.

This includes but is not limited to:
• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER)
• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
• Safe Use of Lifting Equipment Approved Code of Practice (HSE)
• Landlord Tenant Act 1985
• Lift Regulations 2016
• The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2016
• The Housing Act 2004.

We must also ensure we comply with the Regulator for Social Housing’s regulatory framework and consumer standards for social housing in England; the Safety and Quality Standard is the primary one applicable to this policy.

In this policy the terms lifts and lifting equipment refers to, passenger lifts, stair lifts, bath lifts, through floor lifts, step lifts and height adjustable baths.
Under sections three and four of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) we are required to:
• ensure that all lifting equipment is fit for purpose
• arrange for lifting equipment to be subject to statutory periodic thorough examination
• keep records of all thorough examinations
• act on any defects identified to ensure that the lifting equipment remains safe to use
• ensure lifting equipment is used in a safe manner
• regularly maintain lifting equipment.

We acknowledge our responsibilities under HSAWA 1974 and the LOLER regulations (1998). To ensure we fulfil our responsibilities in relation to the management of lifting equipment we will:
• clearly define the responsibilities of believe housing to our customers, colleagues, visitors and contractors
• provide suitable and sufficient resource to manage lifting equipment effectively
• implement suitable and sufficient governance arrangements to manage the risks associated with lifting equipment
• allocate responsibilities and duties for lift safety
• ensure competent persons are responsible for managing lift safety
• ensure all lifts and lifting equipment is used for the purpose for which they have been designed and remain suitable and safe to use
• where duty to maintain falls to believe housing, arrange for all lifts and lifting equipment to undergo regular thorough examination, at frequencies defined by the LOLER Regulations (1998)
• carry out all supplementary inspections and tests recommended following the thorough examination within suitable timeframes
• service and maintain all lifts and lifting equipment
• implement effective lifting equipment record keeping. Operate effective contract management arrangements with the contractors responsible for delivering the service, including ensuring contracts are in place, conducting client-led performance meetings and ensuring the contractors employee and public liability insurances are up to date on an annual basis
• implement a robust process to manage immediately dangerous situations identified during thorough examinations or maintenance visits
• arrange for suitable and sufficient lift safety training to be provided where required
• implement emergency plans where items of lifting equipment fail
• engage with customers to inform and promote lift safety
• use the legal remedies available within the terms of the tenancy or lease agreement should any resident, leaseholder or shared owner refuse access to conduct essential lifting equipment related inspection and remediation works
• conduct and maintain a risk and control self-assessment for lifting equipment safety setting out our key risks and appropriate mitigations.

This policy applies to any building that is owned, occupied or managed by believe housing, where the responsibility to maintain lifts or lifting equipment has been retained. This  includes but is not limited to:
• general needs housing stock where the lifting equipment is owned by believe housing
• Housing Plus Units
• Offices.

In some cases, lifting equipment may be installed in properties by organisations other than believe housing. Where this is the case the regulatory responsibility and management associated with these lies with the customer and/or the organisation arranging the installation.

In all cases where lifting equipment is installed in properties by outside organisations, permission from believe housing must be sought and agreed beforehand, and copies of servicing records may be requested.

As a landlord believe housing has a responsibility under the Housing Act 2004 to provide our customers with safe homes, that are free from hazards. As an employer we also have a duty to provide a safe working environment to our employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The Chief Executive will have overall responsibility for the implementation of this policy and is therefore the Duty Holder under the LOLER Regulations. Day-to-day management of these duties is delegated through the Director of Assets and Compliance, to the Compliance Manager.

The management of lifting equipment is a collective organisational responsibility and therefore responsibility for this policies implementation is delegated throughout the business as follows:

Audit Committee and Board will:
• challenge internal lifting equipment safety procedures and performance.

The Chief Executive will:
• scrutinise the implementation of the lifting equipment policy and its related procedure
• provide sufficient resource for the implementation of a robust and compliant system of lifting equipment management, in line with relevant legislation.

The Assets and Compliance Directorate will:
• promote awareness of this lifts and lifting equipment policy and its associated procedure, across the company and oversee its implementation, ensuring suitable and sufficient control measures are in place to manage the risk
• report lifts and lifting equipment performance and updates on an agreed consistent basis
• develop, maintain, and regularly review the lifts and lifting equipment policy and procedure
• manage the maintenance of lifting equipment to ensure that believe housing remains compliant with all relevant legislation and guidance
• provide clear and robust communication and advise on lifting equipment safety to both colleagues and customers
• ensure that all thorough examinations (LOLER) and servicing tasks are completed within set timeframes
• ensure that actions generated from thorough examinations and servicing programmes are closed in a timely manner
• liaise with managers and other colleagues of believe housing on matters relating to lift and lifting equipment compliance
• procure competent contractors to complete the lifting equipment servicing programme and oversee the management of contractors delivering lifting equipment safety services
• ensure a robust record management system is implemented in relation to lifting equipment thorough examination and servicing and all required data is recorded, updated and monitored
• arrange all supplementary inspections and tests recommended by the competent person following the thorough examination and ensure these are completed within the required timeframes
• arrange the removal of lifts and lifting equipment when required.

The Property Repairs Directorate will:
• ensure that measures are in place to provide suitable information instruction and training to Property Repairs staff using lifting equipment at work
• ensure that measures are in place whereby all lifting equipment used by Property Repairs, undergoes regular examination (LOLER) by a competent person
• oversee the installation of new lifting equipment in properties and ensure that this is installed in line with current regulations and standards
• advise the Compliance Team of any new lifting equipment installations to be added to the thorough examination and servicing programme.

The Neighbourhoods and Customer Experience Directorate will:
• ensure customers are provided with information on lifting equipment safety at the beginning of their tenancy and are aware of their lifting equipment related obligations in their tenancy agreement
• ensure that where properties with lifting equipment are relet, customers are aware of the safe working load of the equipment.

The Corporate Strategy and Assurance Directorate will:
• provide competent health and safety advice as stipulated in regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• investigate accidents and incidents involving lifts and lifting equipment with a view to highlighting opportunities for improvement
• through the insurance provider, arrange for the procurement of a competent contractor to complete thorough examinations on lifting equipment owned and maintained by believe housing.

All believe housing colleagues will:
• ensure they are aware of the lifting equipment management policy and procedure and their duties under this and ensure these are adhered to
• complete any lifts and lifting equipment related training allocated, within the required time frames
• report any lifts and lifting equipment related issues, or incidences immediately
• make full and proper use of any lifting equipment provided
• make any lifting equipment readily available for inspection
• use all lifting equipment in a safe manner to avoid personal injury and injury to others.

All customers will:
• not put themselves or anyone else at risk in relation to lifting equipment safety
• follow the guidance issued by believe housing in relation to lifting equipment safety.

Report any faults/defects in and around their home which may affect lifting equipment safety.

As all the lifting equipment that falls under this policy carries people, thorough examinations as defined by the LOLER 1998 regulations will be completed as follows:
• Before the use for the first time, unless the equipment has a Declaration of Conformity less than one year old and the equipment was not assembled on site.
• Every six-months while in service.
• Following exceptional circumstances, which may include:
o damage or failure
o being out of use for long periods
o major changes that are likely to affect the equipment integrity.

believe housing’s appointed insurance provider is contracted to complete all thorough examinations on lifting equipment which falls under this policy.

In addition to this a programme of routine servicing and maintenance inspections will be completed at the following frequencies:

When believe housing is made aware that a lift or lifting equipment is not operating as it should, either from the customer directly or identified during an inspection, a repair will be raised and actioned in accordance with the following timescales.

If a repair cannot be rectified within the required timescale, we will seek advice from the competent person conducting the thorough examinations and act on their recommendations. This may include taking the equipment out of operation until the defect has been satisfactorily resolved.

We maintain a core assets register of all properties we own and manage in our asset management system. Stock condition data held in this system is used to identify the properties containing lifting equipment under the control of believe housing.

All cyclical programmes are managed though appropriate compliance software.

Records of thorough examinations and service visits are transferred to our document management system. All records are held for a minimum of two years in line with legislative requirements.

believe housing’s Compliance Officer (Lifts and Radon) will undergo appropriate training, such as the Association of Safety and Compliance Professionals level four lifting safety module.

Only competent contractors will be used to complete any lifting equipment examinations and maintenance.

The organisation undertaking thorough examinations will hold valid UKAS accredited for the inspection of lifting equipment. The individual completing thorough examinations will hold a formal qualification in a suitable discipline such as engineering, in conjunction with demonstrating they have suitable training and experience to meet the criteria outlined in the UKAS accreditation for in-service inspection of lifting equipment.

We consider good communication essential in effective lifting equipment safety, therefore we will develop a customer engagement plan. This will support customers in their understanding of lifting equipment and advise them how they can keep themselves and others safe and encourage them to report any concerns.

We also aim to engage with vulnerable and hard to reach customer. We will share information clearly and transparently and will ensure that information is available to customers through regular publications and information on our website.

believe housing will:
• implement a programme of thorough examinations across our properties ensuring that these are completed at least every six-months
• implement a suitable programme of lifting equipment servicing and maintenance visits across out properties
• act upon and faults or issues highlighted by the inspection and maintenance programmes, in a timely manner
• regularly promote awareness of lift and lifting equipment safety with our customers
• act upon any concerns relating to lifts and lifting equipment reported by our customers
• annually, publish data relating to the tenant satisfaction measure for lifting equipment safety, on believe housing’s website
• consider any suggestions made by our customers that could improve lifting equipment safety
• liaise with our customers regularly to discuss lifting equipment safety and other compliance matters.

We will report key performance indicator (KPI) measures for passenger lift thorough examinations that follow the requirements set out in the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), which came into force on 1 April 2023 and must be reported to the Regulator for Social Housing on an annual basis.

We will also report to the following in relation to lifting equipment:

The content of these report differs however overall, the following will be reported annually:

Data
• Number of lifts on the thorough examination programme
• Properties with a valid in date thorough examination
• Properties without a valid date thorough examination.

Narrative
• Current position
• No access information

We will internally review 100% of thorough examination and servicing paperwork. In addition to this we will review all evidence of works completed where defects are identified to confirm that these have fully resolved the issue identified.

We will carry out an independent audit of lift safety at least every three years, to specifically test for compliance with legal and regulatory obligations and to identify any non-compliance issues for correction.

The policy will be reviewed every two years unless there is:
• a significant lift safety incident
• an important change in circumstances or legislation, which would warrant a review being carried out at an earlier date
• significant issues are raised regarding the policy, by an independent organisation undertaking audit or review.

Our definition of a significant non-compliance is any incident which has to potential to result in a major breach in legislation or regulatory standard, or which causes a risk to health or safety, and which needs to be managed as an exception to routine processes
and procedures.

All non-compliance issues will be reported and escalated as soon as possible, and no later than 24 hours after the incident or of a colleague becoming aware.

Any non-compliance issues at an operational level will be formally reported to the Compliance Manager and, where necessary, the Health and Safety Manager in the first instance, who will agree an appropriate course of corrective action.

In cases of serious non-compliance, the Senior Management Team and Board would consider whether it is appropriate to disclose the issue to the Regulator for Social Housing as required by the regulatory framework, or any other organisations such as the Health
and Safety Executive.

We will ensure that there is a robust process in place to investigate and manage all RIDDOR notifications made to the HSE in relation to lifting equipment safety and will take action to address any issues identified and lessons we have learned, to prevent a similar incident occurring again.