Hi One of my responsibilities as H&S advisor for my company is ensuring safety in a small woodworking room with a number of different types of woodworking machines e.g. band saw, circular saw etc. The room is not used all day every day but on occasions when a member of staff is showing volunteers how to make footstools, small tables etc. The volunteers, who are all strictly supervised and trained, can then use the equipment themselves. For each machine there is (IMO) a very comprehensive specific safe operating procedure on display next to each machine which is reviewed regularly. I have also undertaken a general risk assessment for the whole room which includes control measures such as regular servicing of the machines, fire, slips, trips and falls, noise and that volunteers have to be strictly monitored etc. My question is: In light of all the above do you think a specific risk assessment is required on each machine too? I am of the opinion that I would be repeating myself as all conceivable control measures and risk reduction has been considered in the documentation I have at present. A colleague has said there should be specific risk assessments too but I don't see what purpose this would serve other than almost double the paper work I already have in place. Thanks

I agree you do not necessarily need individual assessments for each machine. I would suggest your supervision ratio and secure isolation of machines not being supervised are critical here.

There is a risk assessment in place for the whole workshop which takes into account maintenance, amongst other things, so I do understand the importance of risk assessments and the consequences of not having any. What I'm saying is that by undertaking risk assessments on each piece of equipment am I not just repeeatig myself and therefore are they really that necessary if I have all bases covered by other means? Supervision and isolation is also covered by the risk assessment for the whole area - thanks Ron

I believe that what you have in place at the moment is sufficient. Ideally you would have documented your RA at the beginning, I'm of the opinion that you actually did one in order to develop the safety procedures, however, with the controls in place you describe, I don't think you could be faulted.

Surely it is the task that needs the assessment and not the machine. The risks of the equipment itself is but one part of the task risk assessment Bob

I have read the question asked by Rob to me if the suitable and sufficient general risk assessments has been undertaken and all the reasonable and practicable controls are implementd and those could be r to standard operating procedure, training, maintenance the working environment and the individuals who are going to be operating the machinery. I think that should suffice. Could somebody help quoting any regulations asking for every machinery to be specfically risk assesssed apart from the power presses and equipment like chainsaws which will require specific machinery risk assessment. I think machinery assessment are more crucial at the design and manufacturing stage of the machine.

Robert (Sorry for the duplication - couple of people seem to have beat me to it!) I can see where Claire, Gahan & ITER are coming from but I'm more in agreement with Khan & Adrian. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you go back to the MHSWR & its ACoP it doesn't say 'you must have a separate written RA for each of your machines', it says 'a sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work' etc etc etc. Depending on factors such as the nature, type, use etc of the woodworking machines I don't think you necessarily need separate paperwork for each of them. I would suggest that maybe you could improve the general RA to include any hazards & control measures specific to a particular machine, but also some hazards that may apply to all the machines could just be covered once. For example, common to several machines might be Hazard = the machine rotates and draws in / entangles loose clothing; control = guarding (fixed, or interlocked or whatever), training - particularly training on use of your Safe Operating Procedures & manufacturer’s instructions, no loose clothing/long hair, Emergency stop button, etc. And a hazard specific to one machine might be e.g. Circular bench saw - feeding the material towards the blade leading to severed fingers or worse; control = use of push sticks/jigs, additional supervision etc. This is only a basic description to give an idea what I'm driving at, and I'm sure some people will disagree, but my point is that how you document your assessment of risks is up to you as long as you follow the guidelines. Having reams and reams of paper may serve as a*se covering, but won't it lead to the individual whom it is intended to protect switching off? Kind Regards Kay

Hi, I’m with Clairel on this one I think its necessary to have a risk assessment for each individual woodworking machine. Having said that how can you have a safe system of work (safe operating procedure) and method statement for the use of a particular machine if you haven’t initially carried out an RA to decide on the necessary controls, isn’t a RA the first step in producing a SSoW? I would say that an overall area RA for a woodworking workshop is also necessary to ensure all minor tasks/machines/equipment etc are covered. Regards Steve