PUWER Risk Assessment (UK)

If your people use any work equipment, from a bench saw to a forklift to a ladder, PUWER requires it to be suitable, maintained and safe to use. A PUWER risk assessment is how you show that. This guide explains what it covers.

What PUWER covers

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, PUWER, apply to almost any equipment used at work: machinery, hand and power tools, lifting equipment, vehicles, ladders and access equipment. The duty is that equipment is suitable for its use, maintained, inspected, and used only by people who have been trained.

What the assessment checks

1. That the equipment is suitable for the task and the environment.
2. The hazards it creates: moving parts, electricity, noise, vibration, ejected material.
3. The guarding and protective devices fitted.
4. Maintenance and inspection arrangements.
5. The information, instruction and training given to users.

Guarding and controls

Dangerous parts of machinery must be guarded. Controls should be clearly marked, and there should be a way to isolate equipment from its power source for maintenance. Where risks remain after guarding, safe systems of work and personal protective equipment fill the gap.

Maintenance and inspection

Equipment must be maintained so it stays safe, and where safety depends on the installation or condition, it must be inspected at suitable intervals by a competent person, with records kept.

Record it

Record the equipment, the hazards and the controls on a risk assessment. Our template gives you the form. Equipment that lifts people or loads also has duties under LOLER, and work equipment at height ties in with our working at height guide.