INTRODUCING CS COMPLIANCE SERVICES LTD

PUWER 98 (Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998)

Use of Work Equipment Directive & UK Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998’ assessment must be carried out on all machinery in order to identify all hazards. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 are an approximation of the Use of Work Equipment Directive 89/655/EEC, amended by 95/63/EC and 2001/45/EC, and are the mechanism whereby the Use of Work Equipment Directive was implemented in to UK law.

Scope of the Regulations:

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 came into force on 5th December 1998.

In these regulations the term the ‘1974 act’ refers to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The regulations apply to employers, persons having control to any extent of work equipment, persons who supervise and manage work equipment, and self-employed in respect of the equipment they use at work.

All work equipment used by employees at work falls within the scope of “work equipment”. For the purposes of this assessment “work equipment” is generally taken to mean machinery or combinations of machinery

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Definitions:

New Work Equipment: Items of work equipment first provided for use from 5th December 1998 will need to meet the requirements of PUWER 98.

Second Hand Work Equipment: When existing work equipment is sold by one company to another and it is brought into use by the purchasing company from 5th December 1998 it becomes new work equipment and must also meet the requirements of PUWER 98.

For the purposes of the regulations, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Work Equipment: Any machine, apparatus, tool or installation used at work.

Use of Work Equipment: Any activity involving work equipment such as starting or stopping the equipment, its use, transport, repair, modification, maintenance and servicing, including, in particular, cleaning.

Danger Zone: Any zone within and/or around work equipment in which an exposed worker is subject to a risk to his health or safety.

Exposed Worker: Any worker wholly or partially in a danger zone.

Operator: The worker or workers given the task of using work equipment.

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General

Regulations 3 - 9

Place defined responsibilities on management to complement the requirements which are covered under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

These regulations require site policies and procedures to be formulated and implemented to ensure that work equipment is safe to use, and adequate measures are in place to ascertain the health and safety of employees whilst at work to the requirements of PUWER 98.

Regulations 10 - 24

Regulation 10 covers the initial integrity of machines (in most cases) and requires that the employer must ensure that an item of work equipment conforms at all times with any ‘essential safety requirements’, other than requirements which at the time of it being first supplied or put into service in any place which these regulations do not apply.

Regulations 11 - 24 cover the specific essential compliance requirements of machinery in the workplace.

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