UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998

the instrument as a whole of The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
15 September 1998
In force from
5 December 1998
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations impose health and safety requirements with respect to lifting equipment, which is defined in regulation 2(1). Save as regards the matters mentioned in paragraphs 4 and 5(b) the Regulations give effect as respects Great Britain to Article 4a in respect of lifting equipment, to point 3.2 of Annex I, and to the final paragraph of point 3.2.5 of Annex II, to Council Directive 89/655/EEC (OJ No. L393, 30.12.89, p.13) on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (“the Directive”) as amended by Council Directive 95/63/EC (OJ No. L335, 30.12.95, p.28). Save in the case of regulation 10(1) and (2), the Regulations place duties on employers. In addition (not required by the Directive) Regulation 3 (application) places those duties on self-employed persons, and certain persons having control of lifting equipment, of persons at work who use or supervise or manage its use, or of the way it is used, to the extent of their control (regulation 3(3) to (5)). The Regulations have limited application to ships (regulation 3(6) to (11)). The Regulations make provision with respect to— the strength and stability of lifting equipment (regulation 4); the safety of lifting equipment for lifting persons (regulation 5); the way lifting equipment is positioned and installed (regulation 6); the marking of machinery and accessories for lifting, and lifting equipment which is designed for lifting persons or which might so be used in error (regulation 7); the organisation of lifting operations (regulation 8); the thorough examination (defined in (regulation 2(1)) and inspection of lifting equipment in specified circumstances, (regulation 9(1) to (3)); the evidence of examination to accompany it outside the undertaking (regulation 9(4)); the exception for winding apparatus at mines from regulation 9 (regulation 9(5)); transitional arrangements relating to regulation 9 (regulation 9(6) and (7)); the making of reports of thorough examinations and records of inspections (regulation 10 and Schedule 1); and the keeping of information in the reports and records (regulation 11). The Secretary of State for Defence may grant exemptions from the Regulations in the interests of national security (regulation 12). Enactments and instruments replaced by these Regulations are repealed or revoked; consequential amendments are made (regulations 13 to 17 and Schedule 2). A copy of the cost benefit assessment prepared in respect of these Regulations may be obtained from the Economic Adviser’s Unit, the Health and Safety Executive, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.70.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.70 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source