Lifting accessory standards

The lifting accessory standards cover slings, shackles, eyebolts, lifting attachments and crane ropes. This guide sets out each standard, its current edition and what it means for the people using and examining the gear.

Overview

What the lifting accessory standards are

Lifting accessory standards are the British, European and international standards for the gear between the crane hook and the load: slings, shackles, eyebolts, lifting beams and the like. Each section below gives one family’s scope and current edition, then the checks that apply on site.

In short

Most of these are product standards that a manufacturer builds to. The user’s duties come from LOLER.
LOLER sets the marking and examination duties, and LEEA’s code gives the day-to-day discard checks.
Textile sling label colours show the material, and the capacity is printed on the label.
Several of the standards are being revised, among them the fibre rope sling and wire rope discard standards.

Chain slings	BS EN 818 (chain and chain slings) and BS EN 1677 (hooks, links and fittings), all amended in 2008
Wire rope slings	BS EN 13414 (slings), amended in 2008, and BS EN 13411 (terminations), with parts revised up to 2022
Textile slings	BS EN 1492, parts 1, 2 and 4, amended in 2008
Shackles	BS EN 13889:2003+A1:2008
Eyebolts	BS EN ISO 3266:2010+A1:2015
Lifting attachments	BS EN 13155:2020+A1:2025
Crane wire ropes	BS ISO 4309:2017
Suspended baskets	BS EN 14502-1:2010

Chain

Chain slings: BS EN 818 and BS EN 1677

BS EN 818 covers short link chain for lifting. Parts 2 and 4 cover grade 8 chain and grade 8 slings of one to four legs. Part 6 sets what the manufacturer must tell the user about use and maintenance, and the remaining parts cover grade 4 chain and slings and hoist chain. BS EN 1677 covers the forged parts fitted to slings: grade 8 fittings in parts 1 to 4, and grade 4 hooks and links in parts 5 and 6. Most parts of both are current and under review.

The marked rating of a multi-leg chain sling assumes the legs are within 45 degrees of vertical, and LEEA’s code gives mode factors for other hitches, such as 0.8 for a choke hitch. Grade 8 chain loses capacity above 200 °C. Keep it out of acid, and do not galvanise it unless the manufacturer approves, because of the risk of hydrogen embrittlement. Withdraw a chain sling with an unreadable tag, stretched or worn links, an opened-out hook, or nicks and cracks; LEEA’s code lists the rest.

Wire rope

Wire rope slings: BS EN 13414 and BS EN 13411

BS EN 13414-1 covers wire rope slings of one to four legs with ferrule-secured or spliced eyes, including how their working load limit is worked out and how they are marked. Part 2 sets the information on use and maintenance the manufacturer supplies, and Part 3 covers grommets and cable-laid slings. BSI is reviewing all three.

BS EN 13411 covers the terminations at the end of a rope, from thimbles and splices to ferrules, sockets, wedge sockets and swaged ends. Parts 3, 4 and 7 were revised in 2021 and 2022, and a Part 9 on solid thimbles was added in 2021. BSI notes that U-bolt rope grips under Part 5 are not to be used as the main termination on lifting slings or crane hoist ropes. None of BS EN 13411 is on the GB designated list.

A wire rope sling carries its safe working load and identity on a metal tag, and it is worth repeating the identity on the ferrule or master link in case the tag is lost. Scrap a sling that shows kinks, broken wires, a protruding core, heat damage or a cracked or slipped ferrule, along with the other faults in LEEA’s code.

Textile

Textile slings: BS EN 1492

BS EN 1492-1 covers flat woven webbing slings made of man-made fibres, and Part 2 covers roundslings up to 40 t. Part 4 covers rope slings made from natural or man-made fibre. Lifting people and single-use slings are outside Part 1. BSI has all three parts under review, and the Part 4 revision covers man-made fibre ropes only and adds high-performance fibres such as HMPE and aramid.

On webbing slings the label colour shows the material: blue for polyester, green for polyamide and brown for polypropylene. The label also gives the safe working load and an identity number. The colour of the sling body is no guide to capacity, so read the label every time. Cuts to the edge, damaged stitching, weld spatter and chemical or heat damage all mean the webbing sling comes out of use, and a roundsling with any core showing is discarded.

A large green steel tank hanging from red webbing slings shackled to its lifting lugs inside a factory building — A tank lifted on webbing slings shackled to its lugs.

Shackles and eyebolts

Shackles and eyebolts: BS EN 13889 and BS EN ISO 3266

BS EN 13889 covers forged grade 6 dee and bow shackles from 0.5 t to 25 t with threaded pins. Use only the manufacturer’s pin, and check the body and pin are marked as the same grade. Side-load a shackle only where the manufacturer’s instructions allow it. LOLER requires the safe working load to be marked, so refer a shackle with unreadable marking to a competent person.

BS EN ISO 3266 covers one-piece forged grade 4 eyebolts for straight and angled loading, with the eye sized to take a matching shackle. The full rating of a collar eyebolt applies to a straight pull only, and LEEA says a shackle is normally used to connect it rather than a hook.

Attachments

Lifting attachments: BS EN 13155

BS EN 13155 covers non-fixed load lifting attachments: lifting beams and spreaders, plate clamps, vacuum lifters, lifting magnets, C-hooks, lifting forks and lifting inserts for concrete. Slings, grabs, buckets and container spreaders are outside it. The current edition is the 2020 edition with its 2025 amendment, which BSI issued in April 2026 together with a corrigendum.

HSE’s guidance on vacuum lifting equipment asks for pads and warning devices to be checked every shift. For older lifting magnets, its magnet guidance advises two separate actions to release a load; that page still cites BS EN 13155:2003+A2:2009.

Check a lifting beam for distortion, cracked welds and elongated holes, and make sure its marking matches its paperwork.

Crane ropes

Crane wire ropes: ISO 4309

ISO 4309 covers the care, maintenance, inspection and discard of wire ropes on cranes and hoists. Its discard criteria take in broken wires, loss of diameter, corrosion and deformation, and how to judge several kinds of damage together. The current edition is from 2017, published in the UK as BS ISO 4309:2017, which replaced BS ISO 4309:2010. A sixth edition is in draft, and the comment period on the committee draft closed in September 2026.

A crane’s hoist rope belongs to the crane itself, and ISO 4309 is the reference a competent person uses to judge it, with the rope maker’s instructions.

Lifting people

Suspended baskets: BS EN 14502-1

BS EN 14502-1 covers baskets hung from a crane hook to lift people. It replaced the 2005 edition in 2010. Part 1 is not on the GB designated list; Part 2, on elevating control stations, is. Equipment for lifting people needs a thorough examination at least every 6 months, or under a written examination scheme.

The law

How the accessory standards relate to LOLER

An accessory built to a designated standard is presumed to meet the essential requirements that standard covers, under regulation 7(4) of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008. The GB designated list includes BS EN 818, BS EN 1492, BS EN 1677, BS EN 13155, BS EN 13414, BS EN 13889 and BS EN ISO 3266.

Once the gear is in service, LOLER applies. Regulation 7 requires each accessory to be marked with its safe working load and anything else needed for safe use, and regulation 9 requires a thorough examination at least every 6 months, or under a written examination scheme. HSE’s leaflet INDG422 adds that the user’s pre-use checks still matter between examinations, and its thorough examination page asks for the declaration of conformity and the examination reports to be kept. Northern Ireland has its own LOLER from 1999 with the same duties, and EU product rules apply there.

Sources and further reading

Questions

Common questions

How often do slings and shackles need a thorough examination?

Every 6 months as a minimum, unless a written examination scheme sets the intervals, and after anything that could affect their safety. The same applies under Northern Ireland’s 1999 regulations.