The PUWER Approved Code of Practice.

The PUWER Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance is aimed at employers, duty holders and anyone who has responsibility for the safe use of work equipment, such as managers and supervisors. It sets out what is needed to comply with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The Regulations, commonly known as PUWER, place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment. PUWER also places responsibilities on businesses and organisations whose employees use work equipment, whether owned by them or not.

The PUWER ACOP has been approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), with the consent of the Secretary of State. It gives practical advice on how to comply with the law. If you follow the advice you will be doing enough to comply with the law in respect of those specific matters on which the ACOP gives advice. You may use alternative methods to those set out in the Code in order to comply with the law.

The PUWER ACOP explains the scope of work equipment to which PUWER applies and when it must be applied. As a Regulation, it is required where applicable under law. Taking to duty holders, we often find that many are unsure of their responsibilities under the PUWER legislation and that if this is the case, then the PUWER ACOP is a good place to start. Alternatively, MachineSafe provide PUWER training courses to upskill your teams.

After looking at the PUWER ACOP, you will see the full scope of PUWER and understand why it is so important that it is applied as required in the Regulation, such as following the installation of the equipment and before it is put into service for the first time. We like to think of PUWER as the catch-all before equipment is placed into service.

MachineSafe is an excellent tool for carrying out and managing PUWER inspections. Please contact us to arrange for a free demonstration.

The PUWER ACOP is available for free download from the HSE website and is an excellent publication to explain the requirements of, and provide guidance on PUWER and PUWER Inspections.