Health and safety in manufacturing
Work equipment does not have one inspection deadline. Find out when checks are due, what records to ask for and what to do if a machine is unsafe.
Workplace equipment safety inspections are not automatically weekly or annual. The right interval depends on the equipment, the risk and any special examination rules. If you work on a packing line, drive a forklift or clean machinery, ask when the next check is due and report faults without waiting for it.
- 6 months
- LOLER examinations for lifting people and lifting accessories
- 12 mo
- LOLER examinations for other lifting equipment, unless scheme applies
- 14 mo
- Usual maximum interval between extraction examinations and tests
How often should PUWER inspections be carried out?
There is no universal weekly, monthly or annual PUWER inspection rule. The interval must suit the risk, taking account of the risk assessment and manufacturer’s guidance. Weekly may suit one machine and be inadequate for another. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, known as PUWER, distinguish these situations:
- Safety depends on installation: inspect after installation and before first use, and after reassembly at a new location.
- Deterioration could cause danger: inspect at suitable intervals. This is not permission to pick an arbitrary annual date.
- Exceptional events could affect safety: inspect after events such as damage or modification where the deterioration-related inspection duty applies.
These are the conditional duties in PUWER regulation 6. Not every hand tool needs a formal inspection or inspection record. Your employer still has to keep it safe and maintained.
Pre-use checks, inspections and thorough examinations are different
A pre-use check follows your training before you use the equipment. A periodic inspection looks for deterioration that could cause danger. A statutory thorough examination is a separate requirement for certain equipment, including lifting equipment and some power presses. Doing one does not cancel the others.
The table gives the main inspection and examination intervals in Great Britain. Lifting equipment and certain presses have their own inspection regimes rather than the general PUWER inspection duty. PUWER’s wider safety duties still apply. Extraction and pressure systems also have specific examination requirements. Scotland follows the same rules; Northern Ireland has separate legislation.
| Equipment | Requirement | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| General equipment under PUWER | Inspection before use where safety depends on installation; at suitable intervals and after exceptional events where deterioration could cause danger. Keep the result until the next inspection. | A competent person with knowledge appropriate to the inspection |
| Lifting equipment and accessories under LOLER | Thorough examination at least every 6 months for lifting people and for lifting accessories; at least every 12 months for other lifting equipment. A written examination scheme is an alternative. | A sufficiently independent and impartial competent person |
| Metalworking power presses covered by PUWER’s special rules | Guard inspection and testing each working period, completed within its first 4 hours; also after tool setting, subject to exceptions. Thorough examination every 6 months, or 12 months with fixed guards only. | A competent person appointed in writing for guard checks; a competent examiner for thorough examination |
| Local exhaust ventilation under COSHH | Thorough examination and testing at least every 14 months, with shorter intervals for certain processes. Keep records for at least 5 years. | Someone competent to examine and test the system |
| Pressure systems subject to examination requirements | Examination according to the applicable written scheme, not a universal annual date | A competent person |
Machinery safety checks: what should you check before use?
Follow the checks you have been trained to carry out for that machine. This is not a substitute for its inspection schedule. Do not reach into moving parts or attempt a repair to complete a check.
- Guards and interlocks: report a missing guard or one that has been wedged open or bypassed. Do not work around it.
- Controls and stopping: carry out only the control and emergency-stop checks covered by your training. Report a fault rather than assuming the machine’s inspection report makes it safe.
- Damage and deterioration: report damage, failed brakes or other faults. Note the machine number and what you found.
- Extraction: report escaping dust or fume and damaged ducts. A test certificate does not excuse broken extraction.
- Cleaning and clearing jams: use the safe isolation procedure. An emergency stop is not safe isolation. Only undertake isolation or maintenance you are trained and authorised to do.
If a fault puts you in danger, get clear and report it. Production targets do not make a bypassed guard safe. See the safety training your employer must provide.
Who can carry out an equipment safety inspection?
An ordinary PUWER inspection needs someone with knowledge and experience appropriate to the equipment and the inspection. That is not necessarily an outside engineer, but a supervisor’s casual look does not qualify merely because they supervise you.
For statutory thorough examinations, the examiner needs competence for that particular regime. Lifting and press examiners need sufficient independence and impartiality. An outside engineer-surveyor is common, but an employee is not automatically disqualified. Your routine operator check is not their thorough examination.
What equipment inspection records should you ask for?
Ask your supervisor which inspection rules apply, when the equipment was last inspected, when the next inspection is due and where the report is. Ask what has been done about any defects. Put the request in writing if checks appear to have been skipped.
- Formal PUWER inspections: the result must be recorded and kept until the next inspection. A missing required record is a compliance problem.
- Equipment moving between businesses: where the PUWER inspection requirement applies, it must not leave or arrive without evidence of the last inspection.
- Maintenance logs: an existing log must be kept up to date. Maintenance and inspection are not interchangeable.
- Extraction examination and test records: keep these for at least 5 years under COSHH.
Not every pre-use visual check needs a formal PUWER record. Equally, an up-to-date report does not make a new fault safe. You do not have to wait until the next scheduled inspection to report danger.
What counts as work equipment under PUWER?
Machinery, appliances, tools and installations used at work count. That includes conveyors, presses, forklifts, pallet trucks, hand tools and ladders, as well as hired equipment and your own tools used for work. Duties depend on who controls the equipment and its use. Cleaning and clearing jams count as use too.
What your employer owes you
Your employer must provide suitable equipment, maintain it, safeguard dangerous parts and give users and supervisors adequate training. Controls, emergency stops where required, and isolation arrangements must be suitable.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect employees’ health, safety and welfare so far as is reasonably practicable. That includes safe systems and substance handling, understandable training and supervision. With five or more employees, employers must record significant risk-assessment findings and have a written safety policy.
You must take reasonable care and cooperate with safety measures. That does not excuse broken extraction or a missing guard. See your employer’s wider safety duties.
How often should lifting equipment, presses and extraction be inspected?
Lifting equipment
Lifting operations must be properly planned by a competent person, supervised and carried out safely. Under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, known as LOLER, a load-carrying forklift normally has a 12-month thorough examination interval. Lifting people, and lifting accessories such as slings, require 6-month examinations unless a written scheme sets the schedule. An accessory’s interval does not change the whole truck’s interval.
LOLER regulation 9 can also require examinations following installation or exceptional events. Servicing is not a substitute. A current report does not make failed brakes safe.
Power presses
The special press rules generally cover metalworking presses with a flywheel and clutch, with specified exclusions. They do not automatically cover hydraulic presses or food-packing machines. Those still need safe guards, maintenance and appropriate inspections.
HSE’s power-press code requires a competent person appointed in writing to inspect and test guards, with a signed certificate. Complete the check before use continues beyond the first four hours of each working period, including each shift. HSE recommends checking before work starts. Check after tool setting or resetting, and after adjustment unless guards were undisturbed. Thorough examinations are every 6 months, or 12 months with fixed guards only, and after exceptional circumstances affecting safety. Remedy dangerous defects before reuse.
Dust and fume extraction
Local exhaust ventilation, or LEV, captures dust or fume at source. COSHH, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, requires prevention or adequate control of exposure to welding fume, flour dust, wood dust and metalworking-fluid mist. Staying below an exposure limit does not discharge every control duty.
COSHH regulation 9 generally requires LEV examination and testing at least every 14 months, sooner for certain processes. Keep records for at least 5 years and maintain extraction between tests. Report escaping dust or damaged ducts now. A mask is not permission to leave extraction broken.
Dust, chemicals, noise and strain
Dust and chemicals can do damage years before symptoms appear. HSE cites a 2012 study attributing about 2,200 of Great Britain’s estimated 8,000 occupational cancer deaths in 2005 to past manufacturing work. These are historical estimates, not 2026 deaths.
COSHH requires assessment, controls, training and health surveillance where needed. Ask what substances you use and what the assessment requires. A safety data sheet alone is not an assessment. Report wheezing or persistent skin irritation. HSE’s chest-physician data for 2010 to 2019 put manufacturing’s occupational asthma rate at about five times the all-industry average, with flour dust, isocyanates, wood dust and cutting fluids among the causes.
Noise, vibration and lifting by hand
Noise action values concern daily or weekly exposure, not one reading. At 80 dB(A), employers must assess risk, inform and train you, and provide hearing protection on request. At 85 dB(A), they must provide it and require its use, with designated zones where appropriate. Exposure must not exceed 87 dB(A), allowing for hearing protection. Ear defenders do not replace required controls at source.
The hand-arm vibration daily action value is 2.5 m/s² A(8), and the limit is 5 m/s² A(8). A(8) standardises exposure to an eight-hour day. These are not simply the tool’s vibration rating. Time using it matters.
There is no legal maximum lifting weight or universally safe 25 kg load. Avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable, then assess and reduce remaining risks. Repeatedly lifting flour sacks from the floor needs more than a weight check.
Vehicle movements, falls, electrical faults and fire or explosion risks need controls too. Cleaners and contractors need safe access and isolation arrangements. Assess possible asbestos disturbance before maintenance starts.
Required PPE must be free, suitable and maintained. Since 6 April 2022, GB PPE rules cover qualifying non-employee workers too, including agency and casual staff where their status meets the test. PPE follows prevention and other controls. See protective-equipment rights.
What if machinery is unsafe or an inspection is overdue?
Get clear of immediate danger. Record the machine number, date, shift, fault and who you told. Photograph it only if safe and permitted. Keep your own notes and messages accessible outside your work account.
- Tell the supervisor and safety rep. Be specific. For example, “Conveyor 2’s guard has been bypassed. Hands can reach the moving rollers.” Use an emergency stop if needed and safe. Do not attempt repairs beyond your training.
- Put it in writing. Ask who will fix it and what safe alternative work is available. Request the assessment and inspection report. Use the grievance procedure if ignored, but do not wait for it to finish before reporting ongoing danger.
- Explain why you cannot continue. Section 44 protects qualifying actions in serious and imminent danger, including leaving, refusing to return and appropriate protective steps. Employees also have section 100 automatic unfair dismissal protection, without a service requirement.
- Report unresolved danger. Use HSE’s safety concern route for a GB factory, or HSENI in Northern Ireland. Contact your union, Acas or Citizens Advice promptly if threatened or penalised.
Unite and GMB organise manufacturing workers. Ask which union covers your site and agency staff. Union-appointed safety reps where the union is recognised can investigate hazards, inspect and obtain relevant safety information. See how unions work.
Example: refusing an unguarded packing machine
Amara’s supervisor wedges a guard open to maintain production. She gets clear, records the exposed moving parts and tells her manager and rep why she cannot safely continue. If she is sacked for a refusal meeting the statutory test, as an employee she can claim automatic unfair dismissal without qualifying service. A non-employee worker would use the detriment route. Neither is an automatic win.
If you are hurt: who reports what
The employer or other legally responsible person files an employed worker’s report under RIDDOR, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. You cannot file it as the injured worker. You can separately report a failure to act.
Notify without delay for work-related deaths, specified injuries and listed dangerous occurrences. The report must arrive within 10 days. Specified injuries include amputations and fractures other than fingers, thumbs and toes. Burns, crush injuries and sight loss have defined severity tests. Report online, or use telephone reporting as an alternative for deaths and specified injuries.
Incapacity for normal duties for more than 7 consecutive days requires reporting within 15 days of the accident. Count rest days, not the accident day. Lighter duties can count. Certain diagnosed occupational diseases, including asthma, dermatitis and hand-arm vibration syndrome, are reportable where the work-related conditions are met. Keep RIDDOR records for at least 3 years.
Example: the RIDDOR reporting clock
Tomas suffers a fingertip amputation on 10 June 2026. Notify without delay; the report is due by 20 June. If instead there is no specified injury but he cannot do normal duties from 11 to 19 June inclusive, that is 9 days. The over-7-day report is due by 25 June, even if he has returned.
Get medical help, an accident-book entry and witness details. Keep your own account. Check sick pay. From 6 April 2026, eligible SSP starts on the first full qualifying sick day, with no lower earnings limit. For 2026/27, it is £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Working before going home injured means that day is not a full sick day.
Example: sick pay on low hours
An eligible worker averaging £100 weekly gets £80 SSP for a full qualifying week. Contractual sick pay may be higher. See the sick pay guide.
Agency temps and contractors
Employee
- Safe equipment, training and required PPE
- Protection against detriment for qualifying safety activities
- Automatic unfair dismissal protection for qualifying safety reasons, with no service requirement
Worker, but not employee
- Safe equipment and systems even on a short agency assignment
- Required PPE where covered by the worker rules
- Protection against detriment for qualifying actions in serious and imminent danger
- No unfair dismissal claim merely through worker status
“Agency” is not a legal status. You may be an employee of an agency or another business, or a non-employee worker. The factory still owes you safe equipment. If shifts disappear after you raise danger, keep rotas and messages and seek advice on your status and which business acted.
The section 44 worker extension covers qualifying actions in serious and imminent danger. It does not extend the employee’s wider safety-concern grounds to every non-employee. Even for employees, the concern-raising ground has conditions, including whether a safety representative or committee exists or can reasonably be used.
Genuinely self-employed contractors have their own duties and are owed safe site arrangements, but do not gain section 44 or section 100 protection merely by working there. See agency rights and contractor safety duties.
Do not miss the tribunal deadline
Acas confirms the usual GB limit is 6 months less one day for problems on or after 1 October 2026. For most earlier problems it remains 3 months less one day. Older claims are not revived. Dismissal dates and repeated detriments can complicate the starting point. Get advice on your exact deadline.
Notify Acas in time for early conciliation to pause the clock. A grievance does not pause it. A dismissal effective on 1 October 2026 normally has an unadjusted deadline of 31 March 2027; conciliation can change that date. Seek help now. See bringing a tribunal claim.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland has the same GB equipment and reporting rules. Criminal prosecutions go through the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; the corporate offence is called corporate homicide.
Northern Ireland has separate legislation, enforced by HSENI or district councils. Under RIDDOR Northern Ireland 1997, incapacity exceeding 3 consecutive days requires reporting within 10 days. Exclude the accident day from the incapacity count. NI uses “major injuries”, not GB’s specified-injury list.
The GB six-month tribunal reform is not an NI deadline. Contact the Labour Relations Agency and read the Northern Ireland guide for its separate employment routes.
Questions people ask
How often should workplace equipment be inspected?
There is no single interval. Under PUWER, inspect at suitable risk-assessed intervals where deterioration could cause danger, and after exceptional events affecting safety. Equipment whose safety depends on installation needs inspection before use after installation or reassembly at a new location. Lifting equipment, certain presses and other specialist equipment have separate rules. A blanket weekly or annual policy is not the legal test.
Does every machine need a formal safety inspection?
No. The general PUWER inspection duty depends on installation and deterioration risks. Some equipment needs only routine pre-use checks rather than a formal inspection. It must still be suitable, maintained and safe, and any applicable special examination rules must be followed.
How often does safety equipment need inspection?
It depends on what it is. Lifting accessories normally need a LOLER thorough examination every 6 months unless a written examination scheme applies. Dust and fume extraction generally needs examination and testing at least every 14 months, with shorter intervals for certain processes. Required PPE must be suitable and maintained; there is no single inspection interval here that covers every kind of safety equipment. See your protective-equipment rights.
Do electrical tools need a PAT test every year?
There is no statutory PAT-testing frequency. Electrical equipment must be maintained to prevent danger. Do not treat an annual test label as permission to keep using a faulty tool; report the fault.
Can I refuse to use a machine if its inspection is overdue?
A missed inspection alone does not automatically meet the GB protection test for leaving or refusing to return. That protection can apply where you reasonably believe the danger is serious and imminent and cannot reasonably avert it. Employees also have automatic unfair dismissal protection for qualifying safety actions; other workers have detriment protection for qualifying actions in serious and imminent danger. Record the defect, report it and get advice promptly. The law cannot guarantee your employer will obey.
What if my employer does not report a machinery accident?
Ask for the RIDDOR report details in writing. You cannot submit the employer’s report yourself, but you can report the failure to the regulator. Keep medical evidence, witness details and your own account. Reporting a safety breach and seeking compensation are separate routes.
Sources
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2, legislation.gov.uk
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, legislation.gov.uk
- Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, section 69, legislation.gov.uk
- PUWER 1998, legislation.gov.uk
- Inspection of work equipment, HSE
- Safe use of power presses, L112, HSE, second edition, 2014; regulations 32 and 33
- LOLER 1998, regulation 9, legislation.gov.uk
- COSHH 2002, legislation.gov.uk
- Noise regulations, HSE
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, legislation.gov.uk
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, legislation.gov.uk
- PPE at Work Amendment Regulations 2022, legislation.gov.uk
- Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000, legislation.gov.uk
- Work at Height Regulations 2005, legislation.gov.uk
- Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, legislation.gov.uk
- RIDDOR 2013, legislation.gov.uk
- When do I need to report?, HSE
- RIDDOR Northern Ireland 1997, regulation 3, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 44, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 100, legislation.gov.uk
- Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, legislation.gov.uk
- Manufacturing statistics in Great Britain 2025, HSE, 20 November 2025; pages 19 and 20 for historical disease estimates, pages 23 and 26 for injury data and under-reporting
- HSE Annual Report and Accounts 2024 to 2025, executive summary, GOV.UK
- Employment Rights Act implementation timetable, GOV.UK, updated 25 September 2026
- Employment tribunal time limits, Acas, updated 1 October 2026
- SSP entitlement and calculation, GOV.UK
- SSP eligibility, GOV.UK
- Report a workplace safety concern, HSE
- Contact Acas, Acas