Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

17.26.2 Defi nitions
Work equipment
means any machinery, appliance, appar-
atus, tool or installation for use at work.
Use
in relation to work equipment means any activity 
involving work equipment and includes starting, stopping, 
programming, setting, transporting, repairing, modifying, 
maintaining, servicing and cleaning.
17.26.3 Duty holders – Regulation 3
Under PUWER the following groups of people have 
duties placed on them:
➤
employers
➤
the 
self-employed
➤
people who have control of work equipment, for 
example plant hire companies.
In addition to all places of work, the Regulations apply 
to common parts of shared buildings, industrial estates 
and business parks; to temporary works sites including 
construction; to home working (but not to domestic work 
in a private household); to hotels, hostels and sheltered 
accommodation.
17.26.4
Suitability of work equipment – 
Regulation 4
Work equipment:
➤
has to be constructed or adapted so that it is suit-
able for its purpose
➤
it has to be selected with the conditions of use and 
the users’ health and safety in mind
➤
it may only be used for operations for which, and 
under conditions for which it is suitable.
This covers all types of use and conditions and must 
be considered for each particular use or condition. For 
example, scissors may be safer than knives with unpro-
tected blades and should therefore be used for cutting 
operations where practicable; risks imposed by wet, hot 
or cold conditions must be considered.
17.26.5 Maintenance – Regulation 5
The regulation sets out the general requirement to keep 
work equipment maintained in:
➤
an 
effi cient state
➤
effi cient working order
➤
good 
repair.
Compliance involves all three criteria. In addition, where 
there are maintenance logs for machinery, they must be 
kept up to date.
In many cases this will require routine and planned 
preventive maintenance of work equipment. When 
checks are made priority must be given to:
➤
safety
➤
operating 
effi ciency and performance
➤
the equipment’s general condition.