Posted By christopher ian harris ( AIIRSM ) I wonder if you could help me. We are in the midst of preparing our move to a new facility . Consequently we are undertaking a PUWER assessment of all our machine tools. As the grinding specialist for Compression Systems I am pre checking all of our machines prior to PUWER assessment in September. Some of our machines are very old, they still require the practice of manually dressing radii on grinding wheels with diamonds or carborundum sticks.The method is unavoidable at the moment, our machines have no radius attachments. This practice is highlighted on our risk assessments as high. On most machines we have eliminated hand dressing with the purchase of new cnc machines, however some still remain. Is the practice of hand dressing illegal? I can't find info on this anywhere. I know its dangerous, I know its not advisable, but is it illegal? Would we be breaking any regulations by moving machines to a new factory and continuing to dress grinding wheels (mainly internal wheels) in this way ? please advise, regards chris harris ( iirsm )

Posted By Paul Leadbetter Chris Comparatively few activities are illegal these days; in the main, it is up to you to assess the risk and, if necessary, apply appropriate control measures. Paul