CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskHoist slings are lifting accessories under LOLER 1998 and must be examined by a competent person every 6 months. A separate sling register is required. Slings without a current examination report must be removed from use -- and CQC inspectors check.
Under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, a hoist sling is classed as a lifting accessory, not simply a consumable item. This means each sling is subject to the same statutory duty as the hoist itself: thorough examination by a competent person at least every 6 months. Many care homes correctly manage examinations for the hoist unit but treat slings as disposable soft goods and overlook this duty entirely, which is one of the most common LOLER gaps found during CQC inspection and HSE investigation.
Because a care home typically holds many more slings than hoists, often a dozen or more of different sizes and designs in circulation at any time, a single equipment register is not enough to track them reliably. A dedicated sling register should record each sling's unique identifier or serial number, type and size, date first put into use, last thorough examination date, next due date, and current status. Without this, it becomes very difficult to know which of the slings in a linen store or on a resident's hoist have a current, valid examination and which do not.
Each sling should carry a permanent, legible identifier, typically a stitched or printed serial number or barcode, that ties it to its entry in the sling register and its examination report. Slings without a clear, unique identifier cannot be reliably matched to a report of thorough examination, which means their compliance status cannot be evidenced even if an examination did in fact take place. Providers should check new slings on delivery for a manufacturer identifier and add a home-applied tag if one is not already present, and should retire slings whose identifier has become illegible.
A sling that has passed its 6-month examination due date, that has failed examination, or that has no examination record at all must be removed from circulation immediately. This means physically taking it out of the linen or equipment store, not just noting it on a spreadsheet, since staff under time pressure during a transfer will use whatever sling is to hand. Some homes colour-code or bag non-compliant slings and store them separately from compliant stock to prevent accidental use, which is a simple and effective control.
A competent person examining a sling checks the webbing or fabric for cuts, fraying, chemical damage and UV degradation, inspects stitching and loop attachment points for wear, checks any metal spreader bar clips or D-rings for corrosion or deformation, and confirms the safe working load label is present and legible. Slings deteriorate through repeated laundering as well as use, so examination frequency should not be relaxed for slings that appear to be used less often, since laundering cycles alone can accelerate wear independent of lifting frequency.
CQC inspectors assessing the Safe key question routinely ask to see both hoist and sling examination records together, and a home that can produce hoist certificates but not sling certificates is likely to be marked down even if no incident has occurred. Keeping the sling register alongside the hoist equipment register, cross-referenced by resident or by ward, and reviewing it at the same monthly compliance check as other LOLER equipment, makes this an easy area to evidence well rather than a recurring inspection finding.
CareHomeDesk gives you compliance checklists, maintenance logs, and contractor management tools built around exactly this kind of knowledge.