Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Figure 11.4
Using a bench-mounted abrasive wheel.
PUWER 98 Regulation 7 restricts the use of such equip-
ment to the persons designated to use it. These people 
need to have received suffi cient information, instruction 
and training so that they can carry out the work using 
the equipment safely.
Repairs, modifi cations, maintenance or servicing 
is also restricted to designated persons. A designated 
person may be the operator if they have the necessary 
skills and have received specifi c instruction and training. 
Another person specifi cally trained to carry out a partic-
ular maintenance task, for example, dressing an abrasive 
wheel, may not be the operator but designated to do 
this type of servicing task on a range of machines.
11.4 
Information, instruction and training
People using and maintaining work equipment, where 
there are residual risks that cannot be suffi ciently 

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
162
11.5 
Maintenance and inspection
11.5.1 Maintenance
Work equipment needs to be properly maintained so 
that it continues to operate safely and in the way it was 
designed to perform. The amount of maintenance will 
be stipulated in the manufacturers’ instructions and 
will depend on the amount of use, the working environ-
ment and the type of equipment. High speed, high risk 
machines, which are heavily used in an adverse environ-
ment like salt water, may require very frequent mainten-
ance, whereas a simple hand tool, like a shovel, may 
require very little.
In the context of health and safety, maintenance is not 
concerned with operational effi ciency but only with avoid-
ing risks to people. It is essential to ensure that mainten-
ance work can be carried out safely. This will involve:
➤
competent well-trained maintenance people
➤
the equipment being made safe for the maintenance 
work to be carried out. In many cases the normal 
safeguards for operating the equipment may not be 
suffi cient as maintenance sometimes involves going 
inside guards to observe and subsequently adjust, 
lubricate or repair the equipment. Careful design 
allowing adjustments, lubrication and observation 
from outside the guards, for example, can often elim-
inate the hazard. Making equipment safe will usually 
involve disconnecting the power supply and then 
preventing anything moving, falling or starting during 
the work. It may also involve waiting for equipment 
to cool or warm up to room temperature
➤
a safe system of work being used to carry out the 
necessary procedures to make and keep the equip-
ment safe and perform the maintenance tasks. This 
can often involve a formal ‘permit to work’ scheme 
to ensure that the correct sequence of safety critical 
tasks has been performed and all necessary precau-
tions taken
➤
correct tools and safety equipment being available 
to perform the maintenance work without risks to 
people. For example special lighting or ventilation 
may be required.