The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) – known as the PUWER regulations – ensure that equipment used in a workplace is suitable to be provided and is then used safely to avoid harm to the user. This guide outlines which equipment is covered and what employers need to do to comply with the regulations.
Work equipment covers anything used at work, including a chair, laptop, screwdriver, handsaw, power tools, kitchen appliances, or even a drone. Equipment and machinery used in workplaces of all types can be dangerous, so it is important that employers and other responsible people understand the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).
These wide-ranging regulations outline the health and safety requirements for using all forms of work equipment including the obvious machinery and tools used at work. They require that anyone who owns, operates or controls workplace equipment and machinery ensures that all such equipment and machinery is selected, is safe for the application it is intended to be used in and operated only by trained and authorised people. They also require that work equipment is regularly maintained and inspected.
Organisations not complying with PUWER risk fines, prosecution, and being forced to stop using the equipment, which could negatively impact organisation operations.
Understand your responsibilities under the PUWER regulations and ensure employees know how to use work equipment safely. Our electrical safety training course helps ensure employees can work safely.
Why are PUWER regulations necessary?
Contact with machinery and being hit by vehicles are among the most common causes of injury and death in UK workplaces. Between 2015 and 2020, being struck by a moving vehicle was the cause of 19% of reported fatalities, with 8% the result of contact with moving machinery.
In 2019-20, 65,427 non-fatal injuries were reported by employers with 4% due to contact with moving machinery and 2% caused by being struck by a moving vehicle.
Accidents with machinery and equipment can happen in any organisation, but it is particularly common in the construction, manufacturing and agriculture sectors where the use of heavy machinery is more likely.
Machines that are not properly guarded and insufficient safety equipment can lead to body parts being caught, or moving parts and flying objects hitting people. The resulting injuries include severed and crushed limbs as well as blindness. Similarly, insufficient safety procedures for using vehicles can cause people to be struck or run over, hit by objects falling from the vehicle, or crushed by an overturned vehicle.
PUWER is there to ensure such incidents are minimised.
What equipment is covered by PUWER?
The scope of PUWER is broad.
It applies to any work equipment and includes any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool, or installation used at work. The Health and Safety Executive describes it as “any activity involving work equipment and includes starting, stopping, programming, setting, transporting, repairing, modifying, maintaining, servicing and cleaning”.
Both stationary and mobile equipment are covered. The regulations apply whether the equipment is new or old, and whether the organisation owns or hires the equipment from another organisation or business. The PUWER regulations also cover equipment owned by employees that their employer permits them to use for work.
Some equipment must also comply with other regulations as well as PUWER. For example, lifting equipment is covered by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), personal protective equipment is covered by PPE legislation, and pressure equipment must comply with the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations.
PUWER does not apply to equipment used by members of the public. That is covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Read our expert guide to learn more about PUWER.
PUWER equipment and environment list
The following is a list of what equipment is covered by PUWER in specific sectors and types of organisation. Please note that the list is not exhaustive and you should always assume the PUWER regulations cover all equipment used by your organisation.
Offices
- Computers
- Visual display units
- Photocopiers
- Scanners
- Printers
- Telephones
- Shredders
- Fax machines
- Label printers
- Interactive whiteboards
- Coffee makers
- Fridges
- Freezers
- Microwave ovens
- Kettles
- Vacuum cleaners
- Air conditioning systems
- Fire and security systems
- Heating and plumbing systems
- Escalators
- Lifts
- Lighting
- Projector
- Electrical wiring
- Internet routers
- Smart speakers
- Boilers
- Water filtration device
- Staplers
- Laminating machines
Leisure and entertainment businesses
- Fairground rides
- Bowling alleys
- Chlorine monitors for swimming pools
- Games consoles
- Games arcade machines
- Theatre lighting
- Theatre camera equipment
- Loudspeakers
- Amplifiers
Medical organisations and laboratories
- Defibrillators
- Anaesthesia machines
- Patient monitors
- EKG/ECG machines
- Surgical lights
- X-ray machines
- Ultrasound machines
- Suction pumps
- Heart-lung machines
- Dialysis machines
- Bunsen burners
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Autoclaves
- Centrifuges
- Spectrometry machine
- Fume hoods and cupboards
- Water baths
- Radiation protection equipment
- Thermometers
- Oxidation machine
- Cold rooms
- Blood pressure monitor
- Auriscopes
- Electrocardiogram
Workshops
- Saws
- Hammers
- Knives
- Welding equipment
- Belt sanders
- Heat and glue guns
- Angle grinders
- Chainsaws
- Drills
- Power presses
- Pottery kilns
- Lathes
- Clamps
- Power presses
Factories and warehouses
- Fork lift trucks
- Dump trucks
- Conveyor belts
- Bottling machines
- Steam turbine
- Sewing machines
- Pallet trucks
- Ladders
- Injection moulding machines
- Grinding machines
- Laser cutting machines
- Belt sanders
- Cherry pickers
- Roll containers and cages
- Pallet jacks
- Drainage systems
- Ventilation systems
Agriculture
- Irrigation systems
- Tractors
- Sprayers
- Slurry spreader
- Corn, cotton, bean and other harvesters
- Plough
- Mowers
- Mulching machine
- Hedge cutter
- Soil cultivator
- Harrows
- Scythes
- Woodcutter
- Water sprinklers
- Storage hoppers
- Sprinkler systems
Construction
- Cranes
- Cement mixers
- Concrete mixing truck
- Bulldozers
- Fork lift trucks
- Dump trucks
- Hammers
- Chisels
- Saws
- Axes
- Crow bars
- Excavators
- Hoists
- Sand screening machine
- Scaffolding
- Welding equipment
- Water injection pumps
- Backhoe loaders
- Telescopic wheel loaders
- Power generators
Hospitality and food processing
- Fridges
- Freezers
- Ovens
- Microwave ovens
- Food processors
- Blenders
- Point of sale systems
- Grills
- Griddles
- Toasters
- Knives
- Meat cleavers
- Hot cupboards
- Hotplates
- Steam tables
- Deep fat fryer
- Ice cream machines
- Pizza ovens
- Bread making machines
- Dough mixers
- Scales
- Fryers
- Peeling machine
- Freeze dryers
- Pasteurisation machines
- Ice makers
- Beverage dispensers
- Spice grinders
What are employers’ PUWER responsibilities?
The PUWER regulations place duties on anyone who owns, operates or controls workplace equipment. They must ensure equipment is:
- Suitable for its intended use;
- Safe for use and maintained in a safe condition so that the health and safety of people is not at risk;
- Regularly inspected to ensure it is correctly installed;
- Only used by people who have received adequate instruction and training;
- Used alongside suitable health and safety measures such as protective devices and controls. This could include guards, emergency stop and warning devices, clearly visible markings and isolation from energy sources.
PUWER includes specific requirements for mobile work equipment and power presses.
PUWER training
Everyone must be adequately trained in operating workplace equipment and the training must be specific to the equipment being used. For electrical equipment, for example, users should complete an electrical safety course.
Training should be provided when an employee is first recruited and when using the equipment for the first time. Training may also be needed if the work task and the associated risks change or new equipment and work patterns are introduced.
For some equipment, such as chainsaws, formal qualifications are needed. In the case of other high-risk work equipment, employees may need to be authorised to use the equipment and be subject to supervision and workplace inspections to check safe use.
PUWER maintenance and inspections
PUWER requires that equipment is maintained and that inspections are carried out to ensure that all equipment can be operated safely and remains in a safe state to be used. It will also highlight any damage or defects that need dealing with.
The frequency and detail of maintenance an inspection depends on the type of equipment and how often it is used and what environments it is used in, such as a construction site or outdoors.
For some equipment, a basic visual inspection by the user prior to use might be sufficient but for equipment that poses significant health and safety risks, a detailed and formal inspection such as dismantling the equipment and inspecting certain parts according to the manufacturer’s instructions might be required and be undertaken by someone authorised and competent.
Equipment should be inspected when installed and used for the first time, and a check should be carried out every time it is used. Inspections will also be necessary when equipment is used in conditions that could cause it to deteriorate, such as outside in adverse weather conditions, and when equipment receives significant modifications and repairs or there are changes to the way it is used.
Inspections and maintenance must be carried out by a competent person with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience.
Ensure employees are aware of the dangers and risks posed by electrical equipment in the workplace, and help comply with PUWER regulations with our electrical safety training course.
