2025 Milestones

2025 marks a series of milestones for ALLMI and the UK lorry loader industry.

40 Years - ALLMI Technical Committee

1985 saw the first ever meeting of the ALLMI Technical Standards Committee (TSC). Made up of representatives from leading manufacturers, as well as the HSE, the TSC is a group of experts which consults upon technical and legislative developments, and for the last 40 years has been a major driving force for raising standards in the UK lorry loader industry.

30 Years - Affiliate Membership Category

Further to the Association’s formation in 1978, which was started by manufacturers and importers and then progressed to include service companies, in 1995 ALLMI introduced an Affiliate membership category. This was then followed in 2006 by the founding of ALLMI’s fleet owner division, the Operators’ Forum.

Initially, Affiliate membership was open only to suppliers of ancillary equipment. However, it has since been broadened to accommodate site operators and various types of business connected to lorry loaders that do not fall into other membership categories, as well as the formalisation of links with related industry associations and bodies.

Information regarding all categories of membership, as well as the ALLMI Member Directory, can be found here.

30 Years – Machinery Directive 89/392/EEC

First published in 1989, but with a mandatory effective date of 01/01/95, this required all new equipment in the scope of the Machinery Directive to be designed and constructed to meet common minimum European standards for safety.

For loader cranes, this meant a ‘Responsible Person’ performing a conformity assessment on the machine, CE marking it, providing a Declaration of Conformity and producing a technical file as evidence of compliance.

20 Years - ALLMI & ATL Merge / New ALLMI logo

In 2001, the Association established ALLMI Training Ltd, which led to the birth of the ALLMI training scheme in its current form, a move which had a far-reaching impact on the standard of operating practices. In 2005, ALLMI and ALLMI Training Ltd merged to form ALLMI Ltd, leading to the Association’s first Board of Directors and the creation of the current ALLMI logo.

20 Years – BS EN12999 and WAH Regs

2005 also saw the publication of ‘BS EN 12999:2002+A1:2004 Cranes - Loader Cranes’, the first amendment to the European design Standard for loader cranes (with the original Standard being published in 2003); and the implementation of the Work at Height Regulations.

15 Years – BS 7121 Part 4

2010 witnessed the publication of ‘BS 7121-4:2010 Code of practice for safe use of cranes - Part 4: Lorry Loaders’. This was a full update of the 1997 version, incorporating the requirements of LOLER, PUWER, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, and the revised Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC; and it further formalised the lift planning process, as well as the role of the Appointed Person. A BSI Panel of industry experts, led by ALLMI Technical Manager, Keith Silvester, is currently revising the 2010 version of Part 4.

15 Years - ALLMI AP Course

Stemming from the 2010 revision of Part 4, in the same year ALLMI launched its Appointed Person course, which has since gone from strength to strength, with ALLMI experiencing record uptake during 2024. The training has had a significant impact on practices throughout the lorry loader industry and been pivotal in helping fleet owners to train the relevant members of their workforce to the highest standard.

10 Years – Membership Review

ALLMI launched its Membership Review process, involving periodic audit visits of member companies (in addition to those conducted upon joining).

5 Years - BS EN 12999:2020 – Published

BSI published BS EN 12999:2020. Being the first full revision of the Standard since 2011 (albeit with amendments made in 2012 and 2018), the 2020 document introduced a range of changes, including an alternative procedure for conducting stability tests based on working pressure.

BS EN 12999:2020 has recently been revised, leading to the publication of BS EN 12999:2020+A1:2025. The A1 amendment was driven by ALLMI’s work on swing-up stabilisers and includes new requirements for the design of this leg-type.

5 Years – Loader Cranes on Waterborne Vessels

2020 also saw ALLMI continue to expand its Guidance Note series, with the publication of ‘GN031 - Thorough Examination of Loader Cranes on Waterborne Vessels’. Aimed at those working in this specialist sector, the document explains how the requirements differ when compared to those for a lorry mounted crane.

ALLMI’s full range of Guidance Notes, as well as other good practice material, can be downloaded here.

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