Equipment fit for purpose: safe working load, compatibility and LOLER
In one line: the question is never “is there a hoist?” — it is “is this exact device, at this size and setting, compatible with everything it will touch, within its safe working load, and examined in date?”
Five checks before any device goes in a plan
- Safe working load. The person’s recorded weight against the limit of the bed, mattress, chair, commode, hoist, sling and any small aid. Limits are not interchangeable across a product family; a bariatric hoist with a standard sling is still a standard sling.
- Compatibility. Sling loops with this hoist’s spreader bar; this mattress with this bed frame; this standing aid with this person’s grip and weight-bearing; this slide sheet size with this bed width. Manufacturers state compatibility. “It fits” is not the same thing.
- Range and height. Does the bed go low enough for the person to place their feet, and high enough for carers to work without stooping? Does the hoist lift high enough to clear the mattress and the chair arms without dragging?
- Condition and examination. Hoists and slings are lifting equipment under LOLER 1998: thorough examination at least every six months by a competent person, with the certificate available. Beds, standing aids and other work equipment fall under PUWER 1998. Who is responsible depends on who owns or leases the equipment — the plan should say who.
- The person’s ability to use it. A standing aid depends on assessed weight-bearing, grip, balance and the ability to follow the sequence. If any of these is absent, the device is wrong for this person however good it is.
Slide sheets, repositioning sheets and small aids
Low-friction sheets remove much of the force from repositioning, but only when the size matches the task and the person’s widest measurement, the surface is firm enough (a dynamic mattress may need a static setting), and the staff are trained in insertion and removal. Repositioning sheets used with an overhead hoist can reduce the number of carers needed for turning while protecting skin. These are assessed decisions, recorded with sizes.
Substitution is the silent risk
A plan names a device. Months later, the device is away for repair, a different sling arrives from the laundry, or a new chair appears. Every substitution changes the risk assessment. The plan should state that equipment is not to be swapped without review, and the provider should have a route to get that review quickly. Thrive builds that route into every provider agreement.
Equipment does not replace assessment
The most expensive hoist in the catalogue does not tell you whether the person could have stood with a frame. Equipment recommendations follow the functional assessment; they never lead it.
General guidance for commissioners, providers and families. It is not individual clinical advice: every recommendation Thrive makes follows an assessment of the person, task, equipment, environment and staff involved.