PUWER Risk Assessment — Work Equipment Compliance Across the UK 

Yes. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) impose a legal duty on employers and the self-employed to ensure that work equipment is suitable for its intended use, properly maintained, and safe to operate. A risk assessment is required to identify the hazards associated with each item of equipment and the control measures needed to protect the people who use it. Failure to carry out a suitable and sufficient PUWER assessment — or to act on its findings — can result in HSE improvement or prohibition notices, prosecution, and personal liability for directors and managers. Where an injury occurs and no PUWER assessment was in place, enforcement action is almost certain. 

PUWER defines work equipment very broadly as any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool, or installation used at work. In practice, this covers an enormous range of items: industrial and manufacturing machinery, powered hand tools, vehicles used at work, access equipment, agricultural machinery, lifting equipment, woodworking machines, food processing equipment, and office equipment where significant risk exists. If an employee uses it as part of their job and it could cause harm, PUWER almost certainly applies. The regulations do not draw a distinction between large and small equipment — a bench grinder in a small workshop is subject to the same legal framework as a large industrial press. 

A PUWER risk assessment involves a systematic on-site inspection of each item of work equipment (or groups of similar equipment) to assess whether it is suitable for its intended use, adequately guarded, properly controlled, correctly maintained, and operated by trained and informed staff. The assessor will examine guarding arrangements (fixed guards, interlocked guards, presence-sensing devices), control systems (start, stop, and emergency stop), isolation and lock-off provisions, maintenance records and inspection history, and the information and training available to operators. The output is a written risk assessment for each asset, with risk ratings and a prioritised action plan setting out what needs to be done, by whom, and in what timeframe. 

PUWER does not specify fixed review intervals, but requires that assessments are reviewed whenever there is reason to believe they are no longer valid. This includes when equipment is modified, relocated, or used in a different way; when there is an accident or near-miss involving the equipment; when there are changes in the people using the equipment (including new or inexperienced workers); or when new information about the equipment or its hazards becomes available. As good practice, most organisations review PUWER assessments every two to three years as a minimum, even without a specific trigger. Higher-risk or frequently modified equipment should be reviewed more often. 

PUWER requires that assessments are carried out by a competent person — someone with the necessary knowledge, training, experience, and skills to identify and assess risks from work equipment. For straightforward, low-risk equipment in simple workplaces, a competent in-house person may be sufficient. For complex or high-risk machinery — particularly in manufacturing, food production, or construction environments — a qualified external consultant with specific machinery risk assessment experience is strongly advisable. Competence is demonstrated through relevant qualifications (such as CMIOSH, NEBOSH, or equivalent), specific PUWER and machinery safety training, and a proven track record of assessing similar equipment in comparable environments. 

PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998) is a risk assessment framework that applies to all work equipment. It requires employers to assess whether equipment is suitable, safe, guarded, maintained, and properly controlled. LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998) is a separate set of regulations that applies specifically to lifting equipment — cranes, hoists, fork-lift trucks, patient lifts, and similar — and requires statutory thorough examination by a competent person at prescribed intervals (typically every 6 or 12 months). LOLER thorough examinations are a statutory inspection regime carried out by specialist third parties (often an insurer’s engineer). York Green carries out PUWER risk assessments — the risk assessment element of the compliance framework. If your lifting equipment also requires LOLER thorough examinations, we can advise on the requirement and help you identify a suitable thorough examination provider. 

Yes. CE marking (or UKCA marking for equipment placed on the UK market after 1 January 2021) indicates that the manufacturer has assessed the equipment against applicable safety standards and that it meets essential safety requirements at the point of manufacture. However, it does not account for how the equipment is actually used in your workplace, the specific environment in which it operates, the interface between the equipment and other machinery or processes, or the way your operators interact with it. PUWER requires the employer to assess these workplace-specific factors. In practice, CE or UKCA marking is a useful starting point for a PUWER assessment, but it does not replace one. 

If a PUWER assessment identifies that equipment poses an unacceptable risk, the action required depends on the nature and severity of the finding. Minor issues — such as missing guards, damaged controls, or overdue maintenance — can typically be rectified without taking equipment out of service, provided interim control measures are in place. More serious findings — such as fundamental guarding failures or equipment that is inherently unsafe for its intended use — may require the equipment to be taken out of service until remedied. The PUWER assessment report will set out a prioritised action plan with recommended timescales. York Green will walk you through the findings and help you understand what needs to be done urgently and what can be planned in.