PUWER - Your Obligations
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, often abbreviated to PUWER, place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment. PUWER also places responsibilities on businesses and organisations whose employees use work equipment, whether owned by them or not. PUWER is a regulation, that means its law, and failure to comply with these regulations can lead to huge fines, and/or imprisonment for business directors.
It's getting more common for the HSE to carry out unannounced visits and find businesses operating outside of the law. Act now before one of your employees falls victim to the organisation’s ignorance.
What does the HSE Say?
PUWER, places duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment. PUWER also places responsibilities on businesses and organisations whose employees use work equipment, whether owned by them or not.
PUWER requires that equipment provided for use at work is:
- suitable for the intended use
- safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and inspected to ensure it is correctly installed and does not subsequently deteriorate
- used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training
- accompanied by suitable health and safety measures, such as protective devices and controls. These will normally include guarding, emergency stop devices, adequate means of isolation from sources of energy, clearly visible markings and warning devices
- used in accordance with specific requirements, for mobile work equipment and power presses
Some work equipment is subject to other health and safety legislation in addition to PUWER. For example, lifting equipment must also meet the requirements of LOLER, pressure equipment must meet the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations and personal protective equipment must meet the PPE Regulations.
How do I know if I'm compliant
The only real way to check, is through audit. At a glance though, you are at risk if:-
- Your equipment hasn't been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions at least annually. Visual inspections by your local maintenance team are not enough.
- Your equipment hasn't had a Machinery risk assessment in 3 years, or since the last near miss or incident.
- Your equipment has been modified in any way without the manufacturer’s approval or without a formal machinery risk assessment.
- You don't hold formal training records for your operators.
- You are operating machinery without a valid CE mark, no matter the age.
- You have identified critical, or high-risk activities without a risk reduction plan.
- You do not have a documented maintenance strategy.
- You do not have documented pre-use inspections.
- Your Electrical and Mechanical installations are not periodically inspected.
- Your equipment hasn't been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions at least annually. Visual inspections by your local maintenance team are not enough.
If any of the above is true, you are likely to be non comploint and at risk from either personal injury, or unanounced HSE visits.
So what does that mean for me?
It's safe to say that if a member of your workforce is injured, it will be because one of the bullet points above was not complied with. The HSE will investigate anything that is RIDDOR reportable, which is anything over and above a minor finger break or just a prolonged absence from work due to workplace injury. They will also investigate anonymous tips from your own workforce when they don't feel safe.
All equipment selected should be suitable for its intended use - For instance adapting a cake cutting machine to cut wood.
Equipment must be safe for use - In order to demonstrate this, equipment should be inspected by the user daily, and inspected in accordance with the manufacturers recomendation. Self made tools, should be designed and inspected in accordance with the designers' recommendations.
Used only by competent people - It's not acceptable to have machinery that can cause harm available for use to operators without the correct training. All operators should have a formal training log, that is maintained. Grandfather rights, will not keep you out of court.
Accompanied by suitable Health & Safety measures - A machine bought in 1989 will not comply with 2025's safety standards. That doesn't mean you have to throw away the machinery. It does mean that it should be periodically reviewed for its suitability by someone trained and competent to do so. Where machinery is found to be substandard, this is noted on the machinery risk assessment. The business then has a choice to make. It either accepts the risk, or it seeks to improve the risk rating to a more acceptable level.
Used in accordance with specific requirements - Some equipment carries extra standards, for example Packaging Machinery, Mobile Plant. You can't import equipment from China and hand it over to the workforce, without first CE marking and identifying it meets the correct UK and ISO standards.
Let us help
There are many ways we can help, just to name a few:
- we have a HSE trained Risk Assessor and CE marker to help ensure your machinery is suitable and safe for its intended purpose.
- We can consult with your Engineering and Production teams to ensure that training and competency is carried out effectively and documented.
- We can consult with your site engineering team to implement an effective maintenance strategy.
- We can consult with your operational teams to ensure compliance in risk assessment and standard operating procedures.
There's a lot that can be missed. Sometimes just an external audit is needed to help you get on the right track. Whatever you need rest assured that we will have a solution for you.
When it goes wrong
In case you where thinking you can hide from this obligation. Here's 5 recent examples of when it went wrong.
A stone worktop manufacturer was fined due to a lack of H&S ownership here. £60K Fine
A gate manufacturer is fined for exposing employees to serious safety risks here. £80K Fine.
An apprentice lost his thumb due to insufficient training and insufficient tooling here. £40K Fine.
A joinery firm got off lightly after an unannounced visit here. £10K Fine.
We all have an obligation to get home to our loved ones, and we share the same obligations to our colleagues and employees. Don't put them at risk.