Products, training and operational support services for professional work at height and rescue

Q. What is the difference between WLL and SWL?

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Working Load Limit (WLL) and Safe Working Load (SWL)

The term “Safe Working Load” (SWL) was, for many years, considered to be the breaking
load of a component divided by an appropriate factor of safety, giving a ‘safe’ load that could
be lifted.

The following is more commonly used now:

Working Load Limit (WLL)

The maximum load, determined by the manufacturer, that an item of lifting equipment is
designed to raise, lower or suspend. WLL is sometimes referred to as the “maximum Safe
Working Load”.

Safe Working Load (SWL)

The maximum load (as determined by a competent person) which an item of lifting equipment
may raise, lower or suspend under particular service conditions

NOTE: Normally, the SWL equals the WLL (unless the lifting equipment has been de-rated).

Standards

Generally, product standards - to which most personal fall protection equipment should
conform - do not specify a ‘safe working load’, either in the text of the standard or in the
marking requirements.

Some British (BS), European (EN) and International Standards (ISO) for personal fall
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protection equipment have introduced the terms maximum rated load and minimum rated
3
load .
The maximum rated load equates to the WLL. Some components require both the minimum
and maximum rated load to be marked on the product.

The minimum rated load is required where the performance of a component is affected by a
low mass. An example of a product where both a high mass and a low mass can affect
performance is a descending device.

Legislation

Equipment used in ‘personal fall protection’ is primarily governed by the EC Directive on

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), 89/686/EEC (and its amending Directives, 93/68/EEC,
93/95/EEC and 96/58/EEC). Therefore, the marking of a safe working load (SWL), as
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See heightec Foundation for Work at Height Rev 4 05/12
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minimum mass in kilograms of personnel, including tools and equipment, to be used
with the product, as specified by the manufacturer
3
maximum mass in kilograms of personnel, including tools and equipment, to be used
with the product as specified by the manufacturer

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Tel: +44 (0) 1539 728866 Email: admin@heightec.com

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required by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) is not
straightforward.

The regulations require lifting equipment to be marked to indicate its safe working load (SWL).
The LOLER Approved Code of Practice [187] states that, “The safe working load is usually
expressed in terms of the maximum load that the equipment may safely lift …”.

Summary

The different terms can be summarised as follows:

Minimum Breaking Load

divided by factor of safety

For personal fall protection equipment marked with:
Working Load Limit (WLL)
Maximum Rated
sometimes referred to as = Safe Working Load =
Load
Maximum Safe Working Load
these markings should be treated as a WLL
assessment by ‘competent person’

Safe Working Load (SWL)

Lifting Personal fall protection equipment

Postscript

Additional background information is provided in:

Annex A
BS 6166-1: 1986, Lifting slings: Part 1 – Method of rating

and

Annex B
BS 8437:2005, Code of practice for selection, use and maintenance of personal fall protection
systems and equipment for use in the workplace, uses the following definitions

© The heightec Group Ltd

March 2013

The heightec Group Ltd, Lake District Business Park, Mint Bridge Road, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 6NH, UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1539 728866 Email: admin@heightec.com

Fax: +44 (0) 1539 728833 Web: heightec.com

Training division: heightec - The National Access and Rescue Centre – Aberdeen, London, Kendal, Birmingham

Company no.03435385 Registered in England and Wales VAT No. 698 1128 04
Products, training and operational support services for professional work at height and rescue

Annex A
BS 6166-1: 1986, Lifting slings: Part 1 – Method of rating

BS 6166-1: 1986 (withdrawn 13th December 2011) contained the following Table:

Minimum breaking load Minimum breaking load Minimum breaking load etc.
(MBL) of Component 1 (MBL) of Component 2 (MBL) of Component 3
(either specified or (either specified or (either specified or
experimentally determined) experimentally experimentally
determined) determined)

Calculate working load limit Calculate working load Calculate working load etc.
(WLL) of Component 1 limit (WLL) of limit (WLL) of
(by dividing MBL by Component 2 Component 3
appropriate factor of safety) (by dividing MBL by (by dividing MBL by
appropriate factor of appropriate factor of
safety) safety)

Apply appropriate mode factor (to account for the number of parts, sling geometry, etc.) to etc.
assembly of all component (i.e. No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc.) to obtain WLL or maximum SWL of
assembly.

De-rate assembly according to

adverse conditions (if necessary)

SWL of assembly

NOTE: Where components of differing WLL or “max SWL” are incorporated into an assembly the
lowest WLL or “max SWL” should be used.

Figure 1 – relationship between terms

Definitions:

Working load limit (WLL)

The maximum mass that a lifting sling is designed to raise, lower or suspend
Note 1 – In some British Standards, WLL is referred to as “maximum safe working load”.

Safe working load (SWL)

The maximum mass (as certified by a competent person) that a lifting sling may raise, lower
or suspend under particular service conditions

Minimum breaking (or failure) load (MBL)

The minimum load at which representative test pieces or samples are permitted to break …
from which are derived other values such as working load limit (WLL).

Mode factor
A factor that takes into account the geometry of the sling assembly …

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Tel: +44 (0) 1539 728866 Email: admin@heightec.com

Fax: +44 (0) 1539 728833 Web: heightec.com

Training division: heightec - The National Access and Rescue Centre – Aberdeen, London, Kendal, Birmingham

Company no.03435385 Registered in England and Wales VAT No. 698 1128 04
Products, training and operational support services for professional work at height and rescue

Annex B

BS 8437:2005, Code of practice for selection, use and maintenance of personal fall protection
systems and equipment for use in the workplace, uses the following definitions:

3.9.1
working load limit (WLL)
maximum load that can be lifted by an item of equipment under conditions specified by the
manufacturer

3.9.2
safe working load (SWL)
maximum working load of an item of equipment under specified conditions, as designated by
a competent person
NOTE The competent person may be the user.

The heightec Group Ltd, Lake District Business Park, Mint Bridge Road, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 6NH, UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1539 728866 Email: admin@heightec.com

Fax: +44 (0) 1539 728833 Web: heightec.com

Training division: heightec - The National Access and Rescue Centre – Aberdeen, London, Kendal, Birmingham

Company no.03435385 Registered in England and Wales VAT No. 698 1128 04