Plant and Machinery Liability: Who Pays When Something Goes Wrong?

‍‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‍> Disclaimer: SiteKiln gives you plain-English information, not legal or health and safety advice. Always follow your site-specific risk assessments and talk to a qualified professional.

The short version

PUWER says any work equipment you use -- from a grinder to a digger -- must be suitable, safe, maintained, and only used by trained people.

LOLER adds extra rules for lifting kit like telehandlers, cranes and hoists: lifting equipment must be properly planned, supervised, examined and recorded.

If plant or machinery injures someone, HSE will look at who controlled the work, who provided the kit, who maintained it, and who was actually using it -- and more than one person can be liable.

Why it matters

On small sites it's common to mix: hired-in plant, your own kit, subbies using your tools, and main contractors' gear -- and everyone assumes liability sits with someone else. When a dumper rolls, a grinder kicks back, or a lifting strap fails, you can end up with HSE, insurers and solicitors all asking: who picked this kit, who signed it off, who was trained, who set the job up? PUWER and LOLER are the rulebooks they'll pull out first.

If you're a small LTD or sole trader controlling the job, you're usually on the hook as the "employer" or "dutyholder", even if the machine was hired from someone else.

What PUWER actually requires (all work equipment)

PUWER 1998 applies to almost any kit used at work -- hand tools, power tools, fixed machinery, mobile plant, access kit, lifting gear (LOLER then adds extra on top).

If you're the employer / person in control of the work, you must make sure that work equipment is:

• Suitable: right machine for the task, environment and load -- not using the wrong tool because it's "what we've got".
• Safe and maintained: kept in a safe condition with suitable inspections and maintenance so people aren't put at risk.
• Used by competent people: only used by workers who've had adequate information, instruction and training.
• Guarded and controlled: dangerous parts guarded where needed, controls clearly marked, emergency stops available and working.
• Supported by clear information: safe systems of work, instructions and (where needed) signs and markings so people know how to use it safely.

PUWER duties land on employers, self-employed and anyone who "provides, uses or controls" work equipment at work -- which includes small builders and gang leaders, not just big firms.

What LOLER adds (lifting operations and lifting equipment)

LOLER 1998 covers lifting equipment and lifting operations -- cranes, telehandlers, hoists, MEWPs, chain blocks, slings, chains, lifting beams, etc.

Key duties under LOLER:

• Fit for purpose and marked: lifting equipment must be suitable for the task, appropriately marked (SWL/WLL, configuration limits), and used within its limits.
• Planned by a competent person: every lifting operation must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out safely.
• Thorough examinations: lifting equipment needs thorough examination by a competent person at set intervals (e.g. at least 6-monthly for equipment lifting people, 12-monthly for others, or as per written scheme), with written reports and defect reporting.
• Defects acted on: serious defects must be reported to the person responsible for the equipment and the enforcing authority (usually HSE), and the kit taken out of service until fixed.

Remember: if you use lifting kit, LOLER and PUWER both apply -- PUWER for general safety and maintenance, LOLER for how you lift and examine.

Who is liable for what, in practice?

For a typical small-site setup:

Your LTD / small firm (as employer/contractor):

• Liable if you provide or control equipment that's not suitable, not maintained, not inspected, or used by untrained people, and someone gets hurt.
• Liable if you organise unsafe lifting operations (poor planning, wrong kit, no competent supervisor) under LOLER.

Plant hire company:

• Liable for the condition of the equipment at supply -- it should be in safe condition, with up-to-date thorough examination reports for lifting equipment.
• Once it's on your site, you generally control how it's used. Misuse is on you, not them.

Main contractor / principal contractor:

• Liable where they control the site and lifting operations or specify how plant is used; they must check that contractors (you) are competent and using kit properly.
• Can be in the frame alongside you if they turned a blind eye to obviously unsafe plant use.

Operator / worker (including you on the levers):

• Has legal duties to use equipment as trained, follow instructions and not deliberately defeat guards or safety devices.
• Can face personal criminal charges in extreme cases (reckless or deliberate misuse), but HSE normally start with those in control of the work.

In many real incidents, HSE prosecutes both the company controlling the work and, where appropriate, individuals (directors, managers) if they were personally negligent.

Who's on the hook when plant goes wrong?

Typical scenarios and where liability lands

Here's how this plays out on real jobs:

Hired excavator with no training

You hire a 3-ton digger and put a labourer on it because "he's driven one before". No training, no checks, he hits a worker in a trench.

Likely liability: your company as employer/contractor (PUWER -- unsuitable/trained use; CDM -- competence), possibly the principal contractor if they knew and allowed it. Plant hire firm usually isn't liable if the machine itself was sound.

Telehandler lifting beyond its rated capacity

Telehandler used as a crane to lift loads beyond its chart, no proper lift plan, no competent lift supervisor. Load drops and injures someone.

Likely liability: your firm or the main contractor controlling the lifting operation under LOLER and PUWER (planning, supervision, training), plus potentially the operator if they ignored clear limits.

Grinder with guard removed

Someone removes the guard "to get a better angle" and gets a serious cut.

Liability: employer/contractor for not enforcing safe systems and providing suitable equipment; individual worker may also be criticised for defeating guards, but duty to guard is on the employer.

Failed lifting chain with lapsed examination

Chain sling fails, dropping a load. Records show the last thorough examination was years ago.

Liability: whoever was responsible for that equipment's examination schedule and use (your firm, or main contractor) under LOLER and PUWER.

Your rights and duties around plant and machinery

You've got a foot on both sides: legal duties and practical rights.

Duties (as employer/contractor):

• Pick the right kit, maintain it, inspect it, and make sure only trained people use it -- that's PUWER in a nutshell.
• For lifting operations, ensure they are properly planned, supervised and carried out safely, with up-to-date thorough examinations and records -- that's LOLER.

Duties (as worker/operator):

• Use plant/machinery as you were trained, follow safe systems, don't bypass guards or safety devices, and report defects immediately.

Rights:

• You can refuse to operate plant you're not trained/competent to use or that is clearly unsafe (defects, missing guards, expired LOLER certs) -- that's part of your right not to work in serious and imminent danger.
• You can ask to see LOLER certificates for lifting equipment and raise concerns if they're missing or out of date.
• If you're punished for refusing clearly unsafe plant work, you're back into the territory covered in 4.1 (s44/s100 ERA and whistleblowing protections).

What to do on your next job

Think in three chunks: choosing, using, and checking.

When choosing or hiring kit

• Match the machine to the job -- weight, reach, ground conditions, access, power, environment -- not just what's cheap or available.
• For hired plant, ask for:
  • Proof of recent thorough examination for lifting equipment (telehandlers, cranes, hoists, MEWPs, chains, slings).
  • Any specific operating limits or extra controls they recommend (e.g. ground mats, exclusion zones).

Before using plant or machinery

• Check you (or your operator) are competent and, where needed, ticketed or specifically trained for that kit (CPCS, NPORS, in-house training etc.).
• Do a pre-use check: guards in place, controls working, no obvious leaks/damage, safety devices working, lifting accessories free from obvious wear or damage.
• For lifts, make sure there is a simple lift plan -- who's in charge, how you're slinging, communication, exclusion zones.

During and after use

• Stick to the kit's limits: loading charts, SWLs, slope limits, wind limits for MEWPs -- no "just this once".
• Take unsafe kit out of service immediately if defects are found and tag/lock it so nobody else uses it by mistake.
• Keep maintenance and inspection records -- even simple logs -- so you can prove you did more than "looked at it and thought it was fine".

What to do next

• Check the LOLER certificates for every piece of lifting equipment on your current job -- if any are expired, take the kit out of service until it's re-examined.
• Make sure every plant operator on your jobs has the right ticket (CPCS, NPORS or equivalent) and a record on file.
• Do a simple pre-use check on every machine at the start of every shift -- guards, controls, leaks, safety devices.
• When hiring plant, always ask for proof of thorough examination and any operating limits before the kit arrives on site.
• If a machine has a defect, tag it out and stop anyone else using it until it's fixed.

Sources

• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) -- safe, suitable, maintained equipment, competent use and training duties.
• Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) -- planning, supervision, thorough examination and defect reporting.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 -- general duties.
• HSE and industry guidance for small builders on work equipment, lifting operations and plant hire responsibilities.

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