Work Equipment: Lifting Equipment

Obligations for Lifting Work Equipment

Lifting equipment such as cranes, platforms, hoists and overhead travelling cranes are essential tools in many workplaces but also represent significant hazards if they are not properly maintained and inspected.

According to Legislative Decree 81/2008 (Article 71), every Employer must provide safe, suitable work equipment and ensure that it is periodically checked.

What you need to do

The Employer is responsible for ensuring that work equipment is correctly inspected and must:

• Report the equipment to INAIL at the time of purchase via the CIVA portal to obtain the equipment registration number.
• Request the initial periodic inspection from INAIL via CIVA, specifying ECO Certificazioni S.p.A. as the Authorised Body to conduct the inspection.
• Arrange subsequent periodic inspections directly with ECO Certificazioni, which will carry out technical inspections in compliance with applicable regulations.
• Keep all documentation (inspection reports, test reports, certificates) as evidence of completed inspections and equipment conformity.

Inspection Frequency

The inspection frequency for lifting equipment for people is annual (except for manually operated AWPs and suspended platforms, for which it is biennial).

The inspection frequency for lifting equipment for goods may vary from 1 to 3 years, depending on the type of equipment, the sector of use and its years of service.

Annual frequency:

• Telescopic handlers

• Mobile or transportable cranes (mobile cranes, truck-mounted cranes, tower cranes etc.) with more than 10 years of service or used in wearing operating conditions (construction sector, steel industry etc.)

• Fixed cranes (overhead travelling cranes, jib cranes etc.) with more than 10 years of service and used in wearing operating conditions (construction sector, steel industry etc.)

Biennial frequency:

• Mobile or transportable cranes (mobile cranes, truck-mounted cranes, tower cranes etc.) with less than 10 years of service and used in non-wearing operating conditions

• Fixed cranes (overhead travelling cranes, jib cranes etc.) with more than 10 years of service and used in non-wearing operating conditions

• Fixed cranes (overhead travelling cranes, jib cranes etc.) with less than 10 years of service and used in wearing operating conditions (construction sector, steel industry etc.)

Triennial frequency:

• Fixed cranes (overhead travelling cranes, jib cranes etc.) with less than 10 years of service and used in non-wearing operating conditions

The inspection frequency for hydroextractors may be:

• Annual if operating with flammable solvents or solvents capable of generating explosive or unstable mixtures, with an external basket diameter greater than 500 mm;

• Biennial if with discontinuous-type centrifugal force with basket diameter x number of revolutions > 450 (m x rpm);

• Triennial if continuous-type centrifugal force hydroextractors with basket diameter x number of revolutions > 450 (m x rpm).

Contact our Technical Office for any doubts regarding the classification of your work equipment.

Normative Framework

The Consolidated Law on Occupational Health and Safety (Legislative Decree 81/2008) requires the Employer to provide and maintain equipment that meets the safety requirements of Article 70, is suitable for the intended work, and is used in accordance with legislation that implements the relevant EU Directives.

Periodic inspections of work equipment — such as crane tests, platform inspections, lifting equipment checks or overhead travelling crane inspections — are regulated by Article 71 of Legislative Decree 81/2008 and remain the direct responsibility of the Employer, who may choose either Public Bodies (INAIL/ASL) or Authorised Private Bodies to carry out the inspections.

A complete list of machines subject to inspection is contained in Annex VII of Legislative Decree 81/2008.