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NPORS Report of Thorough Examination Training (N019)
LOLER says lifting accessories get a thorough examination at least every six months, and somebody competent has to sign the report. Two days trains your own fitters and engineers to carry that out in house on slings, shackles, chain blocks, beams and fall protection, and to write a report that stands up. Up to eight candidates, run on request at your site or a venue near you.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N019 Report of Thorough Examination different
About this course
The NPORS N019 Report of Thorough Examination category trains the person who carries out and records a thorough examination of lifting accessories and lifting equipment. Under LOLER regulation 9 a lifting accessory needs a thorough examination by a competent person at least every six months, as does lifting equipment used for lifting people, and other lifting equipment at least every twelve months, or in line with a written examination scheme. Regulation 10 requires the report, and it has to be available.
Two days covers the legal framework, which is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, LOLER, PUWER, COSHH where cleaning and testing media are involved, and manufacturers' instructions. It then works through the equipment: chain, wire rope, round and webbing slings, shackles, hooks, eyebolts, rope and wire clamps, grabs, trolleys, lifting beams and spreaders, plus snatch blocks, lever hoists, chain blocks, tripods and fall protection systems. For each, what the components do, what keeps them safe, and what an unacceptable defect looks like.
The judgement being built is the distinction between wear you can accept and wear you cannot. Elongation, distortion, broken wires, cuts and abrasion, corrosion, heat damage, illegible marking, missing certification, safety catches that no longer catch. On top of that, reading the previous report properly, because an examination that ignores what the last examiner wrote is not an examination. The course finishes with completing the reports and keeping the records.
- What LOLER actually requires: the six monthly interval for lifting accessories and equipment used to lift people, the twelve monthly interval for other lifting equipment, and what an examination scheme changes
- What a thorough examination is and how it differs from a pre use check, an inspection and a maintenance service
- How to examine chain, wire rope, round and webbing slings, shackles, hooks, eyebolts, clamps, beams, grabs and trolleys
- How to examine lifting equipment including snatch blocks, lever hoists, chain blocks, tripods and fall protection systems
- Acceptable against unacceptable limits: elongation, distortion, broken wires, cuts, corrosion, heat damage, marking and certification
- How to read the previous report, how to complete a report of thorough examination, and how to keep the records so they can be produced on demand
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N019 Report of Thorough Examination category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- An NPORS card in the category, carrying the CSCS logo where you also hold a current CITB Health, Safety and Environment test
- The ability to carry out and record thorough examinations of lifting accessories and equipment in house
- Records that an HSE inspector, a client or an insurer can be shown without a scramble
Who should attend?
Plant fitters, mechanical engineers, workshop supervisors, rigging store and lifting gear storekeepers, hire desk and depot staff, quality and compliance officers, and anybody responsible for the condition of a lifting gear store. It suits construction plant hire, engineering, manufacturing, ports, offshore support, waste, water and rail. It is not an operator course: if your people are slinging loads rather than examining gear, the N402 Slinger Signaller is the one you want.
Entry requirements. There are no formal entry requirements and NPORS accept candidates of all abilities on this category, though lifting operations experience makes the two days a great deal easier and most employers send people with a mechanical or plant background. You need to be able to read and write English well enough to complete a report, because the report is assessed, and to handle chain and wire rope safely. Interpreters can be arranged on request. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Bring your date of birth and National Insurance number for the NPORS registration.
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Course content
What you will cover
A classroom grounding in the law and the standards, then hands on with a spread of accessories and equipment, examining them and writing the reports.
The law, the standards and the defects
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, LOLER 1998, PUWER 1998 and COSHH as they apply to examination work
- Regulation 9 examination intervals and written examination schemes, and regulation 10 reporting duties
- What competent person means, and the difference between a thorough examination, an inspection and a pre use check
- Manufacturers' instructions, standards and marking, and what a certificate of conformity does and does not prove
- Types of lifting accessory and lifting equipment, their components and what keeps each of them safe
- Acceptable and unacceptable limits: elongation, distortion, broken wires, cuts, corrosion, heat damage and illegible marking
- Reading and using previous reports of thorough examination
- Environmental considerations, safe manual handling and safe working practice in the store or workshop
Examining and reporting
- Examining at least five lifting accessories, which commonly include slings, shackles, hooks, wire rope, clamps, trolleys, grabs and beams
- Examining at least five pieces of lifting equipment, which commonly include snatch blocks, lever hoists, chain blocks, tripods and fall protection systems
- Measuring and recording wear, elongation and distortion against the permitted limits
- Identifying items to be taken out of service immediately, and how to quarantine them
- Completing the report of thorough examination for each item
- Filing and retaining the records so they can be produced when asked for
Method of assessment
How the N019 report of thorough examination test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical examination work, with the written reports forming part of the assessment. Up to eight candidates are trained and tested together.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many candidates, where, and what your store holds. Up to eight sit it with one instructor. We quote per group, because the length and venue follow who is on it.
2. Pre course check
We confirm each candidate's background and whether the two day novice route or the one day refresher is right, check the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test position if the CSCS logo version of the card is wanted, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the law, the standards and the defect limits, then straight onto the bench with a spread of accessories and equipment, including plenty that should already have been scrapped.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering the legislation, the examination intervals, the equipment, the defects and the reporting duties.
5. Practical examination and report
You examine a range of accessories and equipment, decide what passes and what comes out of service, and complete the report of thorough examination for each. The reports are assessed as well as the examinations.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for your card. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test it carries the CSCS logo, and for workshop and depot work a traditional NPORS card is often the better fit.
After the course
Competence, and what the card does not do on its own
LOLER does not define a competent person by a certificate. It is a combination of training, knowledge, practical and theoretical experience and independence of judgement, and this course is the training part of that. What makes somebody competent to examine your specific equipment is this training plus enough experience with that equipment and the authority to condemn an item without being overruled. We will say this plainly at the quote stage, because a card on its own is not competence and no honest provider will claim it is.
Where your business also inspects plant rather than lifting accessories, the N039 Plant Inspector Thorough Examination category is the bigger five day course and covers carrier systems, superstructure, booms, winches, slew rings, hook blocks, quick hitches and load testing across lift trucks, earthworks plant, cranes and MEWPs. Many depots end up with both: the N019 for the rigging store and the N039 for the fleet.
- N039 Plant Inspector Thorough Examination for inspecting the plant fleet as well as the rigging store
- N047 Rigging and Fleeting Loads for the crews using the gear you examine
- N402 Slinger Signaller for the operators on the hook end
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us for the CSCS logo version of the card
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N019 Report of Thorough Examination FAQs
Under LOLER regulation 9, lifting accessories need one at least every six months, as does lifting equipment used for lifting people. Other lifting equipment needs one at least every twelve months. Either can instead follow a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, and an examination is also required after exceptional circumstances such as damage or a major repair.
It is the training element, and it is a substantial one. LOLER defines competence as a mix of training, knowledge, practical and theoretical experience and the independence to make an honest judgement. The card evidences the training. Your employer still has to satisfy themselves that you have the experience with the specific equipment and the authority to condemn an item.
Fitters, engineers, workshop and depot staff, storekeepers and compliance officers. It is not an operator course. If your people are slinging loads or driving plant, they need a different category, and we will point you to it rather than sell you this one.
Two days for a novice and one day for a refresher, with up to eight candidates and one instructor on either route. That eight is unusually generous for NPORS and makes it a practical option for a whole workshop team.
The NPORS test sheet does not set one out for this category, so we confirm the route with NPORS once we know what the candidate has already done. The routes it does list are a two day novice course and a one day refresher, so somebody already doing the work but never trained would normally take the two day route.
Lifting accessories such as chain, wire rope, round and webbing slings, shackles, hooks, eyebolts, clamps, grabs, trolleys and beams, and lifting equipment such as snatch blocks, lever hoists, chain blocks, tripods and fall protection systems. The practical typically covers at least five of each. Tell us what your store holds and we will bring or use the right spread.
An NPORS card in the N019 category. It carries the CSCS logo where you also hold a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years. For workshop, depot and industrial work a traditional NPORS card without the logo is usually the sensible choice.
Yes, and for this category we would encourage it. Examining your own store means the two days doubles as an audit of your gear, and anything that should have been scrapped gets found while we are there. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when it suits you.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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