Posted By Ian Kenning Hi. What is the current regulation on Supervisors who are in charge of Production. Is it a requirement that they should be able to operate the machinery themselves before they can actually supervise. I know that competency to carry out certain tasks is paramount but to know how to operate machines must surely be a requirement. What do you think.

Posted By Peter Longworth I must concur with Sam's view. The supervisor in question may have to manage employees who operate a whole host of different machinesbut that doesn't mean that he should be able to operate them all himself. His job is to manage his particular section. As for conducting risk assessments in the area, his respsonsibility is to ensure that they are conducted by people who are competent to do so. This may entail having them conducted by a team of experienced employees, or gathering information on the risks from experienced employees or whatever it takes to ensure that the risks are adequately identified and assessed