Appointed Person Course for Lifting Operations

What the appointed person is responsible for

The appointed person decides how a lift will be done and writes or approves the lift plan. On the day, the crane supervisor runs the lift team, the slinger/signaller rigs the load and directs the operator, and the operator runs the machine. If something goes wrong, the lift plan and the competence of the person who wrote it are among the first things investigated.

• Assessing the load: weight, centre of gravity and lifting points
• Selecting a suitable crane, lorry loader or other lifting machine
• Checking ground conditions, outrigger loads and set-up position
• Setting exclusion zones and managing people near the lift
• Allocating roles and checking each person's competence

What the course covers

An appointed person course works through real planning tasks rather than general safety theory. Candidates practise categorising lifts as basic, standard or complex, reading duty charts, working out whether the ground can take the loads, and writing a lift plan and method statement that the lift team can actually follow. Weather limits, communication and what to do when conditions change on the day are part of it.

Who should take it

The role is often filled by whoever is most senior on site, rather than by someone trained to plan lifts. Site managers, contracts managers, engineers and experienced crane supervisors who take on planning are the usual candidates. Some background in lifting operations helps, because the course builds on an understanding of how cranes and lifting accessories behave.

Our guide to the appointed person role explains the duties in more depth; this page is about getting someone trained for it.

How it fits with other lifting training

Lifting is a team job. Alongside the appointed person, most lifts need a trained crane supervisor, a slinger/signaller and a competent operator. We also run banksman slinger and crane training, so one conversation can cover the whole lift team.

What makes a good lift plan

A good lift plan is short enough to be read on site and specific enough to be followed. It states the load weight and how it was confirmed, the lifting machine and its configuration, the set-up position and ground bearing check, the lifting accessories, the exclusion zone, the weather limits and who holds each role. It also says what happens if conditions change. Training spends time on this because a plan nobody reads protects nobody.