Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers and Importers (ALLMI)

ALLMI is the UK trade association for the lorry loader industry. This guide covers its training scheme, its guidance on lorry loaders and how it relates to BS 7121-4 and LOLER.

Overview

What the Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers and Importers is

The Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers and Importers (ALLMI) is the UK trade association for the lorry loader industry. It runs training for lorry loader operators and supervisors and publishes guidance on using loader cranes safely.

In short

ALLMI was founded in 1978 at the request of the Health and Safety Executive.
An ALLMI operator card is valid for five years, after which refresher training is needed.
HSE sits on ALLMI’s Training Standards Committee.
Its thorough examiner course is open to staff of its manufacturer and service company members.

Full name	Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers and Importers
Abbreviation	ALLMI
Type	Trade association, run by ALLMI Limited (company limited by guarantee without share capital, no. 04220319)
Founded	1978
Remit	The lorry loader industry in the UK
Northern Ireland	ALLMI describes itself as a UK body, and its list of training providers includes one in Northern Ireland.
Website	allmi.com

Role

What ALLMI does

ALLMI’s members range from manufacturers and importers to service agents, suppliers of ancillary equipment, fleet owners and site operators. Members sign the ALLMI Statement of Commitment, which refers to the loader crane standards, LOLER and PUWER.

ALLMI Limited, the company that runs the association today, was incorporated in 2001 as ALLMI Training Limited.

Training

The ALLMI training scheme

Build UK recognises ALLMI’s training scheme and CSCS approves it. Courses are delivered by accredited training providers, whose instructors complete the ALLMI instructor course and are audited at least once a year.

Operator	One day for experienced operators and at least two for novices. The card lists the categories the operator is qualified for.
Crane supervisor	A two-day course for the person supervising lorry loader lifts
Appointed person	A two to three day course based on LOLER and BS 7121-4
Thorough examiner	A two-day course for employees of ALLMI manufacturer and service company members, leading to the ALLMI examiner database

ALLMI also trains slingers and signallers. Cardholders keep their cards current with refresher training and a new assessment.

Publications

What ALLMI publishes

ALLMI and the Construction Plant-hire Association wrote Safe Use of Lorry Loaders: The Management of Lifting Operations with Lorry Loaders, a free best practice guide prepared in conjunction with HSE. Its numbered guidance notes cover topics such as stabiliser forces and the thorough examination and testing of loader cranes, and are sold individually. ALLMI’s guidance on swing-up stabilisers, the powered tilting type, is free, and HSE’s safety notice on powered tilting stabilisers points readers to it.

Lifting

Why ALLMI matters for lifting and machine moving

LOLER requires a lorry loader lift to be planned, and BS 7121-4 is the code of practice for doing so. New loader cranes are designed to BS EN 12999, and the guidance on inspection and thorough examination is in the BS 7121-2 series, with BS 7121-2-4 covering loader cranes. On a delivery or plant move by lorry loader, ask for the operator’s ALLMI card and the appointed person’s card.

ALLMI reports that BS 7121-1 is being revised first, with Part 4 among the parts to follow.

A white eight-wheel rigid lorry with a red knuckle-boom loader crane mounted behind the cab, parked on a gravel yard — A lorry with a knuckle-boom loader crane behind the cab.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland and further reading

ALLMI has one accredited training provider in Northern Ireland, and its published material sets out no separate arrangements there. LOLER (NI) 1999 and PUWER (NI) 1999 apply.

Sources and further reading

Questions

Common questions

When does an ALLMI operator card need renewing?

After five years, when the operator takes refresher training and a new assessment.

Who can take ALLMI’s thorough examiner course?

Employees of ALLMI manufacturer and service company members who meet its entry requirements. They join ALLMI’s examiner database once they pass.

What does the law require of a lorry loader operator?

The employer must make sure operators are adequately trained, under PUWER, and that each lift is planned by a competent person and supervised, under LOLER. Northern Ireland has its own 1999 versions, and no particular training scheme is named in either.