Rank: New forum user 
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Hello, My client is struggling with the reliability of the company that he uses for his annual PUWER inspections and examinations. I.e. getting the reports back and follow up fault repairs/and/or replacements parts etc. Can anyone recommend a company that operates in the Greater Manchester area that is reliable and doesn't charge the earth for the travelling to and from site. Thanks in advance. Michelle Edited by user 27 September 2023 13:00:42(UTC)
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Rank: Super forum user 
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No such thing as an annual PUWER inspection so specifying a company would be difficult.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Why do you say there is no such thing as an annual PUWER inspection? I have often seen such things, typically of pallet trucks and done at the same time and by the same provider as the LOLER inspections of lifting equipment.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Originally Posted by: Kate  Why do you say there is no such thing as an annual PUWER inspection? I have often seen such things, typically of pallet trucks and done at the same time and by the same provider as the LOLER inspections of lifting equipment.
PUWER requires equipment to be maintained and inspected to keep it safe, no where does it say annual, the time scales will be dependent on lots of factors. - and no one company could do all equipment - they will need to understand what they are inspecting/maintaining. I dont mind trying to help people but when a post start with the words "My Client" i do wonder what my fee is going to be for helping.
Its when people try and say or imply the time scale of the inspection is stautory loke LOLAR i get cross Edited by user 28 September 2023 16:36:26(UTC)
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Rank: Super forum user
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It's true that PUWER does not contain a requirement for annual inspections. However you can still choose to get an annual inspection done in order to meet the maintenance requirements of PUWER that you mention. I don't see any reason not to call this an annual PUWER inspection, just because it is the owner of the equipment (quite likely on the advice of an inspection provider) that has set the frequency.
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 2 users thanked Kate for this useful post.
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HSSnail on 02/10/2023(UTC), MHT on 02/10/2023(UTC)
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Rank: Forum user 
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As a PUWER Assessor I will say that there is no such thing as an annual PUWER Inspection. What the client is really asking for in 99% of the cases is a maintenance inspection to be conducted to meet the requirements laid out in PUWER. This could take the form of electrical and mechanical safety checks, statutory inspections such as LEV LOLER and so forth and any other relevant type of maintenance inspection for the upkeep of equipment, clients consistently get this wrong. PUWER is only conducted when an item of equipment is newly installed, relocated or modified. Another issue we have is PUWER being conducted retrospectively upon equipment which has been in place for 20 to 30 years and classes as legacy equipment manufactured before PUWER and the CE regulations came into force. Normally the newly apointed SHE person identfies that there is no PUWER Assessment in place for any of the equipment upon site. I explain that that horse has bolted and what they should be doing is a risk assessment for the use of the equipment and source whatever documentation, maintenance records, training and so forth can be found or retrospectively put in place. Then put in place maintenance regimes and statutory inspections as required. In hindsite their normal reaction is to conduct a PUWER assessment as in their mind it captures all these issues but the they don't think about how they are going to get legacy equipment to comply with all of the parts of PUWER prior to starting e.g. CE marking, Certificate of conformity being held, how the equipment operating functions are marked and so forth. If I need to relocate legacy equipment, then I have to worry about PUWER and the fact that the equipment is not CE marked doesn’t mean it can’t be used as it was purchased before the marking came into force. The only option is then to conduct PUWER on the elements that you are able to assess whereas those elements that you can’t assess due to the age and design of the legacy equipment will need to be risk assessed by a competent person for ongoing safe use.
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4 users thanked John Elder for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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You're right, Kate. I was probably not in the best place to respond to a question last week and should have kept my comments to myself- I apologise for my curt postings. John has also done an excellent response. However, I will try to be more helpful than in my initial post. Michelle – PUWER does not call for an annual inspection of work equipment – the requirements for maintenance and inspection are deliberately kept vague as they depend on many factors. For example, let's take a car service – which I think most of us will be familiar with. The service is a combined maintenance and inspection. Some items will be changed at set intervals (filters, oil, etc.) others will be inspected and assessed to see if they will stay safe to the next inspection (e.g., brake pads) My vehicle needs to be serviced annually or every 12500 miles. As I do approximately 1500 miles a month, I must get the service done every eight months – not twelve. In the company I work with, we have lots of equipment that has a similar requirement of inspections based on usage times, and some, therefore, need inspecting 2 or 3 times a year; other companies may have the same equipment but only require 1 or 2 inspections a year. We have some equipment that has to be "inspected" before every use to ensure it has been set up correctly. I have some colleagues trained to carry out these inspections on specific equipment (no one person can do every inspection we require), and for some, I bring in specialist companies. I am afraid that considering this information, it appears to me that the question you ask is unanswerable in its form; without knowing what equipment you are referring to and the extent of the inspection needed, it is impossible to make a recommendation.
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1 user thanked HSSnail for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Originally Posted by: HSSnail You're right, Kate. I was probably not in the best place to respond to a question last week and should have kept my comments to myself- I apologise for my curt postings. John has also done an excellent response. However, I will try to be more helpful than in my initial post. Michelle – PUWER does not call for an annual inspection of work equipment – the requirements for maintenance and inspection are deliberately kept vague as they depend on many factors. For example, let's take a car service – which I think most of us will be familiar with. The service is a combined maintenance and inspection. Some items will be changed at set intervals (filters, oil, etc.) others will be inspected and assessed to see if they will stay safe to the next inspection (e.g., brake pads) My vehicle needs to be serviced annually or every 12500 miles. As I do approximately 1500 miles a month, I must get the service done every eight months – not twelve. In the company I work with, we have lots of equipment that has a similar requirement of inspections based on usage times, and some, therefore, need inspecting 2 or 3 times a year; other companies may have the same equipment but only require 1 or 2 inspections a year. We have some equipment that has to be "inspected" before every use to ensure it has been set up correctly. I have some colleagues trained to carry out these inspections on specific equipment (no one person can do every inspection we require), and for some, I bring in specialist companies. I am afraid that considering this information, it appears to me that the question you ask is unanswerable in its form; without knowing what equipment you are referring to and the extent of the inspection needed, it is impossible to make a recommendation.
Thanks all for your input. I am essentailly talking about metal guillotines, power presses and metal chop saws machines along with other high risk machinery. The specifics of an 'inspection' are quite clear in PUWER regs, although the frequency should be in line with level of risk and amount of use.
It's good practice to have these machines inspected at least annually for this client. These inspections are being carried out and reports eventually coming through. The sticking point is finding a company that can do the maintenance work that the reports have flagged. This level of competency seems to becoming rare. There are plenty of businesses carrying inspections of dangerous machinery and plant, but few to carry out the repairs or replacements etc. That's what we need help with.
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Rank: Super forum user
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The PUWER regs have 3 different areas to consider, although the sequence of the regulations doesn't follow a logical sequence to show this. 1. Engineering policy/maintenance policy - the requirement for a company to have a procedure/system - which depending on the company may be very simple (office type equipment only) to large and complex e.g. a large industrial site. This would cover setting up a PUWER strategy, identifying equipment, frequency of inspection/maintenance (time/calendar based, frequency of operation, number of operating cycles). Setting up engineering/machine training for operators. Isolation and permits to work/lock off/isolation etc. Regs 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 etc 2. Maintenance activities (as opposed to normal operations during production. Reg 19, 22 in particular and the relevant parts of engineering policy documents e.g. actual use of the isolation procedure. 3. Physical aspects. 'PUWER inspections' i.e. for each item of plant and equipment you inspect/check against PUWER requirements e.g. guarding, controls, emergency stps, stability etc etc From the original post, it seems that only point 3 was being asked about. As previous PUWER isn't presented in a logical order some regulations (or sub sections off appear in 2 or 3 of the above 3 sections or all 3 sections)
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1 user thanked Ian Bell2 for this useful post.
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