Posted By Bob Baynes I work in the Engineering department of a Further Education College. I do not know of any laid down rule, If anyone else knows of one let me know too. It depends on what the space is used for. Working space must allow enough room for personnel to work safely, this may involve enough room to allow others to pass without pushing them into or even too near the machine. If space between machines is not required for access they could be touching. Consider whether space is required to allow space for guards to swing aside forloading and unloading. Allow space for maintenance and repair to be carried out safely. You won't be too popular if repairing one machine means stopping and/or moving another one. I use the width of a 'standard' doorway as my guide - 30"/76cm. This distance should be maintained after the maximum reach of any machine movement including anything it is loaded with. Line of sight may be required in some circumstances, think about the relative heights of machines, where the 'working' face is etc. Hope this helps.

Posted By Ken Taylor I use DfES Building Bulletin 81 'Design and Technology Accommodation in Schools' (The Stationery Office ISBN 0-11-270917-6) for machines in our schools - and this can also be helpful in other areas.

Posted By Ken Taylor It says quite a lot on a good few pages, Robert, but the interesting bits for your enquiry are line drawings of a range of machines found in school workshops with some descriptive text and requirements for braking, securing, etc and floor plans showing the machines and other furniture items with recommended spacing dimensions around each in various permutations.