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1. Inspectable Machinery
The policy of the Department of Labour Inspection in the field of Machinery aims at the prevention of risks to employed persons and members of the public which may arise from the use of various types of machinery. This policy is implemented by the Equipment and Machinery Sector and the Machinery Inspection and Certification Unit of the Sector.
This objective materialises by the existence of an adequate legislative framework, the satisfactory implementation of the legislation by means of an appropriate machinery inspection system and the prevention of risks through training and awareness raising.
Specifically, this Sector deals with the:
· inspection and certification of inspectable machinery, such as, steam boilers, steam receivers, cranes, winches, overhead travelling cranes and air receivers
· setting the technical parameters and conditions for safe operation within the permitted operation limits specified by the manufacturer
· investigation of cases of machinery failures in order to determine the causes
preparation of legislation and technical guidelines
· provision of technical guidance and information to machinery owners
The Machinery Inspection and Certification Unit operates with personnel at the Headquarters as well as at the District Offices of the Department of Labour Inspection. The Unit enforces specific parts of the labour legislation concerning certain types of machinery referred to as «inspectable machinery». The inspectable machinery include steam boilers, steam receivers and air receivers.
The main activity of the Unit is the inspection of inspectable machinery. Other activities of the Unit include:
· the investigation of accidents and dangerous occurrences,
· the preparation and processing of legal cases on accidents and legal dangerous occurrences,
· the preparation of new legislation.
According to the provisions of the Factories Law, each inspectable machinery must be inspected at the following intervals:
· Steam boilers: once every twelve months,
· Steam receivers: once every twenty six months,
· Air receivers: once every twenty six months.
The Inspectors of the Department of Labour Inspection carry out inspections of the inspectable machinery by implementing an inspection schedule based on a system of prescribed priorities. Any owner of an inspectable machinery may request the inspection of his machinery. The inspection takes place in the district where the machinery is installed / used following a prior consultation between the owner and the Inspector. After the inspection, the Inspector issues an Inspection Report or a Test and Examination Certificate, according to the inspectable machinery and the type of work performed.
The Inspection Report or the Test and Examination Certificate is mailed to the inspectable machinery owner, or his representative of the owners soon after the prescribed fees are paid.
The prescribed fees are payable in cash or by cheque at the Accounts unit of the Department of Labour Inspection, which is located at 12 Apelli street, 1080 Nicosia, or by cheque payable to the «Director of Labour Inspection». The fees are also payable electronically by means of the JCC Smart payment method following the Department of Labour Inspection link.
2. Lifts
2.1 Periodic audit and maintenance of lifts
On 28.12.2012 the Safety and Health at Work (Operation, Maintenance and Audit of Lifts) Regulations of 2012 (R.A.A. 533/2012) were published in the Cyprus Government Gazette. The Regulation were put into force on 31.8.2013.
The Regulations specify the obligations of lift owners and the persons who are involved in the maintenance and audit of lifts. Periodic audit and maintenance of lifts is carried out by private auditors and maintenance persons respectively. The Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, through the Department of Labour Inspection, is the competent authority for the enforcement of the Regulations.
·Failure to comply with the obligations set out in the Regulations for Lift Owners, Maintenance Personnel or Authorized Lift Auditors, constitutes a penal offense.
According to the latest amendment to the Law on Safety and Health at Work (L.215(I)/2020, 31.12.2020), the Chief Inspector has the power to proceed with an out-of-court settlement of this offense. The amount of the out-of-court fine that can be imposed depending on the offense is € 400 or € 500. The out-of-court settlement of the offense is not equivalent to a conviction and if paid, no prosecution is initiated in relation to the offense in question.
2.2 Authorized Lift Auditors Registry and Lift Maintenance Persons Registry
The Department of Labour Inspection examines applications and approves persons as Lift Maintenance Persons and Authorized Lift Auditors. The criteria for the approval of Authorized Lift Auditors and Lift Maintenance Persons are specified in the Regulations. More information is provided in paragraph 2.8 below.
The names of the persons (physical or legal), which have been approved to carry out maintenance of lifts and periodic audit of lifts, are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic and listed in the Lift Maintenance Registry and the Authorised Lift Auditors Registry, respectively. The Registries are kept in electronic format up to date and are uploaded at the Department’s website.
In addition to the names of the persons approved to carry out lift maintenance or periodic lift audit, the Registries contain contact details and other useful information.
2.3 Lift Owner Obligations
Every lift owner, as prescribed in the Regulations, ought to:
· Ensure, via periodic audit and maintenance, that the lift satisfies, throughout the duration of its use and at the same level the technical requirements that applied when it was first placed in use and at least the requirements of Annex I (lifts intended for the transport of persons or persons and goods) or of Annex II (goods only lifts) of the Regulations.
· Ensures that the lift is audited at least once every 24 months or after major alterations on the lift or if a change in the use of the building occurs.
· Ensures that the lift is maintained at the frequency prescribed in the Regulations according to the category of the building in which it is installed.
· Ensures that the Lift Maintenance Person is present during the lift audit.
· Affixes inside the lift car the marking «LIFT AUDIT: SUCCESSFUL», which is supplied by the Authorised Lift Auditor after each successful audit and keeps the Audit Report issued by the Authorized Lift Auditor for 5 years.
· Ensures that repairs, changes or replacements in the lift, are carried out within the time frame determined by the Auditor in his Report.
· Takes immediate action to repair the lift in case of a malfunction or a breakdown that may expose lift users to imminent and serious danger and takes appropriate measures to prevent the use of the lift until it is repaired.
· Makes sure a telephone appliance is installed inside the lift car, which must be in operating condition and available to the persons trapped inside the car. This appliance must be connected to the emergency call centre of the Lift Maintenance Person, who has the obligation to respond and rescue this person.
2.4 Periodic Lifts Audit
According to Regulation 5, the periodic audit of lifts is carried out only by Authorised Lifts Auditors following a written assignment from the lift owner and after the respective fee is paid. The periodic audit of lifts is carried out at least once every 24 months.
If during the lift audit the Authorised Lift Auditor discovers that the lift presents an imminent and serious danger to the lift users, he orders the owner to place the lift «out of use» and to take appropriate measures to prevent its use until its repair. Once the lift is repaired a new audit is required from the same Auditor to ensure that the lift is repaired and deemed safe for use.
2.5 Frequency of Lift Maintenance
The maintenance of lifts shall only be carried out by Lift Maintenance Persons. The annual frequency of maintenance is at least 12, 8 or 4 times per year depending on the use of the building (public sector buildings, lifts in private dwellings, hotel, hospital) as defined in Regulation 10(6) and Annex VIII of the Regulations.
The frequency of maintenance for each installed lift is specified in the Regulations as follows:
· At least 12 times annually for lifts in buildings of public use, government and semi-government owned buildings and buildings that are listed in Annex VIII of the Regulations (e.g. lifts in hospitals, clinics, hotels, airports, universities, parking places, department stores, restaurants, places of recreation and mass aggregation of public, etc).
· At least 4 times annually for private use lifts (that is a lift installed in a private dwelling in such a way that it is unapproachable from places outside the private dwelling and which can only be used by the householders or tenants of the private dwelling and their visitors) and for lifts connected to machinery and are exclusively intended for access to a working place.
· At least 8 times annually for all other lifts, that is lifts installed in buildings that are not included in the above two categories.
Furthermore, in special cases (e.g. old lift, frequent malfunctions or stoppages with trapped persons), a more frequent maintenance interval may be required for a short period of time than that specified in the Regulations to ensure a good operational condition of the lift and quality of service of lift users. When the good operational condition is established, the frequency of maintenance may revert to the minimum prescribed as above.
2.6 Major Lift Alterations
In cases where the owner proceeds with major alterations of the lift, he should ensure that the lift is audited by an Authorized Lift Auditor. The Regulations specify the term “major alteration”. Such major alterations are the following:
· Change of the nominal speed, nominal load, weight of car (carrier) and the length of travel.
· Change or replacement of the type of the interlocking devices, the lift normal operation system, the guides or the type of the guides, type of door, the drive mechanism or the friction pulley, the overspeed governor, the means of protection against uncontrolled movement of the lift car during ascent or descent, the buffers of the lift car, the device preventing the free fall of the lift, the control panel or the control electrical installation and the lift car.
2.7 Frequent questions on the Regulations for Lifts
The Department of Labour Inspection in order to assist lift owners, lift auditors and maintenance personnel on questions that frequently arise on the provisions of the Regulations and in particular the technical requirements of Annex I and II, has verbalised answers in the Question & Answer format.
The Questions & Answers are a source of information for the stakeholders and at the same time assist in the uniform application of the Regulations. The Questions & Answers are frequently updated and new ones are added when fresh questions arise. It should be noted that the interpretations/explanations given in the Answers have no legal substance.
2.8 Approval of Lift Maintenance Persons and Authorized Lift Auditors
2.8.1 Lift Maintenance Persons
The criteria that should be satisfied for approval of any person as Lift Maintenance Person are specified in Annex VI of the (R.A.A. 533/2012).
The Department of Labour Inspection accepts applications for the approval of candidates as Lift Maintenance Persons pursuant to Regulation 9(1). Any person (legal or physical) wishing to be approved as Lift Maintenance Person, must fill in an application and hand it to the Chief Inspector. The application must be accompanied by all required documents and certificates together with the non-refundable fee of €500 (Annex V of the Regulation). The application form is available at the «Application Forms» page in Greek.
The prescribed fee of €500,00 is payable at the Accounts unit of the Department of Labour Inspection, which is located at 12 Apelli street, 1080 Nicosia, in cash or by cheque payable to the «Director of Labour Inspection». The applicant receives a receipt a copy of which must accompany the application.
According to the above Regulations, the assessment of each candidate may include written and/or oral examination or any other appropriate means. The written examination may include multiple choice questions as well as questions with an «open text» answer.
The curriculum of the examination stems of the text of the Regulations (R.A.A. 533/2012), the Safety and Health at Work (Specification of Acceptance or Rejection Criteria – Methods and Frequency for Testing and Audit of Certain Lift Technical Parameters) Notification of 2013 (R.A.A. 323/2013) the harmonizing Regulations for CE marking for Lifts (R.A.A. 309/2016) and the Health and Safety at Work Law as amended. All the above legislation is available in Greek at the website of the Department of Labour Inspection.
In order to assist potential Lift Maintenance Persons as an Authorized Lift Auditors, the Department of Labour Inspection, prepared a document that provides Practical Guidance on the interpretation of the criteria of Annex VI of the Regulations. Candidates are urged to juxtapose their qualifications against this document before handing in their application and paying the fees.
2.8.2 Authorised Lifts Auditors
The criteria that should be satisfied for the approval of any person as Authorised Lift Auditor are specified in Annex IV of Regulations.
The Department of Labour Inspection accepts applications for the approval of candidates as an Authorized Lift Auditors. Any person wishing to be approved as Authorised Lift Auditor, must fill in an application and hand it to the Chief Inspector. The application must be accompanied by all required documents and certificates together with the non-refundable fee of €500 (Annex III of the Regulations). The application form is available at the «Application Forms» page in Greek.
The prescribed fee is payable at the Accounts unit of the Department of Labour Inspection, which is located at 12 Apelli street, 1080 Nicosia, in cash or by cheque payable to the «Director of Labour Inspection». The applicant receives a receipt, a copy of which must accompany the application.
According to the Regulations, the assessment of each candidate may include written and/or oral examination or any other appropriate means. The written examination may include multiple choice questions as well as questions with an «open text» answer.
The curriculum of the examination stems of the text of the Regulations (R.A.A. 533/2012), the Safety and Health at Work (Specification of Acceptance or Rejection Criteria – Methods and Frequency for Testing and Audit of Certain Lift Technical Parameters) Notification of 2013 (R.A.A. 323/2013) the harmonizing Regulations for CE marking for Lifts (R.A.A. 309/2016) and the Health and Safety at Work Laws as amended.
All the above legislation is available in Greek at the website of the Department of Labour Inspection.
In order to assist potential candidates as an Authorized Lift Auditors, the Department of Labour Inspection, prepared a document that provides Practical Guidance on the interpretation of the criteria of Annex IV of the Regulations. Candidates are urged to juxtapose their qualifications against this document before handing in their application and paying the fees.
2.9. Assessment procedure of applications as Authorized Lift Auditors or Lift Maintenance Persons based on the paragraphs 2.8.2 and 2.8.2.
The usual steps for the assessment of applications for either an Authorized Lift Auditors or Lift Maintenance Persons, are briefly explained below.
· Once the application is received, a check is carried out to ensure that is accompanied with all the required documents and certificates and a copy of the receipt of payment of the prescribed fee of €500. Compliance with all the criteria of the relevant Annexes of the Regulations is a prerequisite before the assessment of the applicant proceeds to the next stage.
· If the application is complete and proves satisfactory, the applicant is notified in writing (by letter or e-mail) that he/she can proceed to the next stage that of the written examination and are informed of the date and place of the examination. Ample time is given to the applicant to prepare for the examination.
· If the application is not complete, the applicant is informed in writing (by letter or e-mail) and asked to submit the remaining documents and/or certificates to complete the assessment. If the applicant does not respond he/she within reasonable time, is informed in writing that the assessment of the application is terminated.
· The applicant who pass the written examination, is notified in writing (by letter or e-mail) that he/she proceeds to the final stage that of the oral examination which takes place at the Headquarters of the Department of Labour Inspection located at Apelli Street no. 12, 1080 in Nicosia on a date and time the applicant is duly informed.
· The successful applicant is informed in writing and is asked to pay the first annual fee of €500 before exercising the trade of Authorized Lift Auditor or Lift Maintenance Person, respectively. The names of the Lift Auditors and Lift Maintenance Persons are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic by Notification and are listed in the Register of Authorized Lift Auditors or the Register of Lift Maintenance Persons, accordingly.
3. Lifting machinery
The Health and Safety at Work (Operation, Maintenance and Control of Lifting Machines) Regulations of 2021 (R.A.A. 153/2021) are essential legislation for the safe operation and reliability of machinery in general. The above Regulations define and describe a system, which ensures that lifting machines are in a continuous safe and good working condition and their safe operation is controlled by qualified persons in the private sector.
3.1 Obligations of employers (Owners, Auditors and Maintainers)
With the Regulations, the roles of the Lifting Machine Owner, the Authorized Lifting Machinery Auditor and the Lifting Machine Maintainer are clear and obligations are imposed on them. The Regulations provide penalties that vary from the revocation of the approval of an auditor due to misconduct, to a fine or imprisonment for a person who fails to comply with the Regulations. The Department of Labour Inspection maintains the supervisory role of the new legislative framework.
3.2 Authorized Lifting Machinery Auditors
In order for a person to be authorized as an Auditor, the person must have appropriate academic qualifications and significant work experience, as well as specialized training, which is reviewed by the Department of Labour Inspection before the intended authorization is granted. The names of persons (physical or legal) approved by the Department of Labour Inspection to carry out inspection of lifting machinery are put on the Register of Authorized Auditors of Lifting Machinery.
3.3 Maintenance of lifting machinery
There is no authorization system for maintenance persons, but they must be trained in the maintenance of lifting machinery, work responsibly, maintain properly and fill in the necessary lifting machine documents.
3.4 Inspections and tests of lifting machinery
Lifting machines are classified into four hazard categories. The higher the hazard category, in which the machinery is classified, the more often its periodic inspection and/or testing is provided. The Owner of the lifting machine, depending on the dangerousness of the lifting machine, must ensure that the lifting machine undergoes initial and periodic checks and/or tests.
Inspections and tests are carried out by an Auditor. The Auditor takes into account the checklist specified in Annex II of the Regulations, the relevant to the construction of the the lifting machine standards and the manufacturer's instructions. Also, if required, the Auditor carries out tests with loads according to the methodology specified in Annex III of the Regulations. When the Auditor completes the inspection, issues a Report, updates the lifting machine's records and affixes a special marking. The Auditor may, if deemed it necessary, request the repair of the lifting machine or impose the immediate shutdown.
3.5 Approval of Authorized Lifting Machinery Auditors
Any person (legal or natural) wishing to be approved as an Authorized Lifting Machinery Auditor must complete and send a relevant application to the Chief Inspector (Director of the Department of Labour Inspection), which must be accompanied by all the required documents specified in Appendix V of the Regulations. The application period is announced by the Department of Labour Inspection and is currently open.
The application form is placed on the greek section of the website of the Department of Labour Inspection, under "Forms and Applications" and then "Inspectable Machinery".
Each application must be accompanied by a receipt with the non-refundable fee of €308 that has been paid for the examination of the application, as provided in Annex IV of the Regulations, for each natural or legal person included in the application. Fees are paid to the Department's Accounting Office, in cash or check, payable to the "Director of the Department of Labour Inspection" and the applicant receives a receipt. The Accounting Office of the Department of Labour Inspection is located at 12 Apelli Street (2nd floor), 1080 Nicosia.
Applications that are not completed or not accompanied by all required documents and certificates will not be processed until completed or they will be rejected. The assessment may include a written and/or oral examination or any other suitable means the Chief Inspector decides and the applicants will be informed in due time to prepare properly.
3.6 Placing of machinery on the market
The placing of safe machinery on the market, including lifting machinery, is regulated by harmonized European legislation, which defines the minimum safety and health requirements for CE marking, whereas issues concerning the operation, maintenance and inspection of lifting machines are regulated by the Health and Safety at Work (Operation, Maintenance and Control of Lifting Machines) Regulations as part of the national legislation on safety and health at work.
21.4.2023
DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR INSPECTION
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