What people mean by a PUWER assessment
PUWER is the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. They apply to any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation used at work. The operative regulations (2 to 37) never use the word assessment, so "PUWER assessment" is shorthand. People use it for three different jobs, and they produce different paperwork.
| The job | What it answers | What you end up with |
|---|---|---|
| Risk assessment | What could go wrong with this equipment, who is exposed, and what needs doing about it | Your recorded assessment, reviewed when it stops being valid or something significant changes |
| Compliance check | Does the equipment meet the duties in regulations 4 to 24 | A completed checklist and a list of gaps. The checklist below is built for this |
| Inspection | Is the equipment still safe to operate, and has anything deteriorated (regulation 6) | An inspection record, kept until the next inspection |
What is actually mandatory
Every employer must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employees and to anyone else affected by the business (regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999). It has to be reviewed if there is reason to think it is no longer valid or if something significant changes. An employer with five or more employees must record the significant findings.
PUWER then sets the equipment duties: suitability, maintenance, inspection, information, training, guarding, controls and the rest. The checklist below walks through them in regulation order.
The 20-point PUWER checklist
Take one item of equipment at a time. For each row, answer yes, no or not applicable, and write down what you saw. A "no" is a gap to close. A "not applicable" should still have a reason next to it, because an auditor will ask.
| Reg | Question | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Is the equipment suitable for the job and the conditions it works in? | It was chosen with the working conditions and the risks in mind, and is only used for tasks and conditions it suits. |
| 5 | Is it kept in an efficient state, in working order and in good repair? | A maintenance routine exists. Where the machine has a maintenance log, the log is up to date. |
| 6 | Is inspection in place where it is needed? | Inspection after installation or reassembly where safety depends on it, at suitable intervals where it can deteriorate dangerously, and after exceptional events. Results recorded until the next inspection. |
| 7 | Where use carries a specific risk, is it limited to the right people? | Only people given the task use it. Repairs, modifications and servicing go to designated people who have been trained for them. |
| 8 | Do users and supervisors have the information they need? | Information, and written instructions where appropriate, covering how to use it, foreseeable abnormal situations and what experience has shown. Readily understood. |
| 9 | Has everyone who uses or supervises it been trained? | Training covers the methods of use, the risks and the precautions to take. |
| 11 | Are dangerous parts of machinery guarded? | Access to dangerous parts is prevented, or movement stops before a person reaches the danger zone. Fixed guards first where practicable, then other guards or protection devices, then jigs, holders or push-sticks. |
| 12 | Is there protection from the five named hazards? | Articles falling or ejected, rupture or disintegration of parts, fire or overheating, unintended discharge of gas, dust, liquid or vapour, and unintended explosion. |
| 13 | Are very hot or very cold surfaces and materials protected? | Protection where appropriate, so a person cannot be harmed by touching equipment or the substances in it. |
| 14 | Can it only be started, or changed to a riskier setting, deliberately? | Start controls, including restart after a stoppage, need a deliberate action. |
| 15 | Is there a stop control that brings it to a safe condition? | Readily accessible, stops the equipment completely where needed, switches off energy sources if necessary, and takes priority over start controls. |
| 16 | Is there an emergency stop where one is needed? | A readily accessible emergency stop, unless the nature of the hazard and the time to stop make one unnecessary. |
| 17 | Are the controls visible, identifiable and sensibly placed? | Clearly marked where needed. The operator can check that nobody is at risk when they use a control, or a system of work covers it. |
| 18 | Is the control system safe? | A fault, damage or loss of power cannot create extra risk, and the system does not get in the way of the stop and emergency stop controls. |
| 19 | Can it be isolated from every source of energy? | Isolation means that are clearly identifiable and readily accessible. Reconnecting energy cannot put anyone at risk. |
| 20 | Is it stable? | Clamped or otherwise stabilised where necessary for safety. |
| 21 | Is the lighting suitable and sufficient? | Lighting suits the operations at every place where someone uses the equipment. |
| 22 | Can maintenance be done safely? | Risky maintenance can be done with the equipment shut down, or the person doing it is protected. |
| 23 | Is it marked with what safety requires? | Markings are clearly visible and say what is needed for health and safety. |
| 24 | Does it carry the warnings it needs? | Warnings or warning devices appropriate to the hazards, for example before the equipment starts. |
The wording of each row condenses the regulation. Many duties apply "where appropriate" or "so far as is reasonably practicable", so the regulation itself is the authority. Equipment that moves under its own power, and power presses, have further duties in regulations 25 to 35.
Turning the checklist into a risk assessment
- List every item of work equipment, with its location and who uses it.
- Run the checklist on each item and write down the gaps.
- For each gap, note who could be hurt and how badly, using the five hazards in regulation 12 as prompts.
- Decide what to do about each gap, and who will do it by when.
- Decide which items need formal inspection and how often. HSE says to base this on the equipment, how it is used, the conditions it is exposed to and the manufacturer's recommendations.
- Record the significant findings, then review when something changes or an inspection shows the assumptions were wrong.
HSE's inspection guidance describes a range. Some checks are quick and made before use, such as the condition of a power tool's cable or the brakes and lights on mobile machinery. Others are weekly, such as guarding and safety devices. Some are more extensive examinations every few months or longer. Not every safety-critical part needs checking at the same interval.
Who can carry it out
The risk assessment is the employer's job, and it can be done in-house by someone who understands the work and the equipment. HSE says the same of inspections: anyone with enough knowledge and experience of the equipment to know what to look at, what to look for and what to do about a problem can carry them out. The level of competence rises with the risk.
The person who decides what an inspection covers does not have to be the person who carries it out, provided the decider is competent.
When to bring in a competent inspector
HSE says the competence needed varies with the type of equipment and how and where it is used. If nobody on site has the knowledge and experience to judge a machine, an outside competent person is the way to get it. At Fox Engineering Safety a competent person carries out the inspection, evaluates risks and issues a written report with findings, defects and recommended actions. We inspect work equipment and do not sell, hire or repair it.
The details of that service are on our PUWER Inspection & Risk Assessment page. If you are unsure whether PUWER, LOLER or PSSR covers a given machine, start with which statutory inspection do you need.
Sources
Duties, intervals and definitions on this page come from the legislation and HSE guidance listed here. Read the original when you need the exact wording.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) Regulations 3 to 24 (and 32 to 35 for power presses).
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3 (risk assessment)
- HSE: Inspection of work equipment Source for inspection frequency, who can inspect and the use of checklists.
- HSE: Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
- HSE: Maintenance of work equipment
- HSE approved code of practice L22: Safe use of work equipment