Hi, I have been asked to carry out a guarding survey at one of our industrial sites on all equipment/static workshop tools/conveyors/machinery and I am a little perplexed where to start. The sites has a lot of equipment that requires guarding to be in place and the purpose of the survey is to ensure it is all in place providing protection as it should be as in the majority of cases all of the machinery is operated from one central control system and not immediately by the machinery. The guards are removed during downtime etc for maintenance however it has been noted that sometimes guards are not always replaced effectively. I gained my NEBOSH Diploma 5 years ago but I am not an engineer/operator as my job role focuses more on training and management systems, another person has dealt with this type of thing in the past (but they have recently left the company) and some of the machinery/parts are quite complex so am concerned about ensuring I know what I am looking at, whether it is guarded properly and ensuring that I don't miss anything important - also I don't want to look a complete idiot as this an area I know I have weakness in and I want to do a good job. Due to the vast amount of machinery/equipment that is on the site I would take a long time to survey everything so I am wondering if I should just take samples in key areas or try to see everything. Even taking samples means I would be out on site for the whole day. Also do you think it would be best to group types of equipment together eg. conveyors, electrical cabinets (have been asked to include these!) or survey in areas eg. workshop, Fan enclosures etc? Any advice or ideas on how I should carry this out would be gratefully appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

I really do think that you have answered your own question & been very honest in doing so. My favourite definition of "competence" is knowing when you are not... My advice would be to take one large step back & get assistance from somebody who knows what they are looking at.

Even the most competent expert wouldn't expect to hit the ground immediately with a task as large as you describe. There should be an inventory, and if you're lucky it should be in some semblance of order. Have you inherited any system paperwork from the previous incumbent? Are you familiar and confident in correctly applying the PUWER hierarchy to this array of machinery? If guards aren't being replaced properly, what action has been taken to remedy that? What's the likely outcome when you come up with a list of problems? Don't do this by sample - managers will assume the sample applies to everything, and that may well come back and bite you.

Hi, I have no experience of this an all - I'm just a student - but my tutor recently mentioned the £20 note test. You imagine there is a £20 note at the dangerous area, and see if you think someone could possibly get to it whilst the machine is still running. If they can, you guards are not good enough! Don't know if this helps at all?!?!

EN 953 has been withdrawn. The current requirement is BS EN ISO 14120:2015. Machine guarding is linked to machinery safety control systems, it has to be by nature. There are also a raft of other B & C type standards to consider, as well as the A type. I would disagree with the statement made eksewhere in the thread that Engineers are unsuited for the task. I suspect that the term Engineer is being mis-applied, remember registered Engineers also have a code of practice & ethics to uphold. Tredes may be a different kettle of fish, they rarely have adequate understanding of the standards & legislation. I would also suggest a specialist at least to assist & train. I can provide some suggestions for specialists to assist if you want, plea PM.