How to Conduct an Abrasive Wheels Risk Assessment

Poorly managed activities involving abrasive wheels can lead to fatalities, serious injuries and damage to property and businesses. It is important that the hazardous nature of these activities is understood, and suitable precautions are taken to eliminate hazards where reasonably practicable and to control the remaining risks.

All risk assessments dealing with the use of abrasive wheels should be conducted in a methodical and precise manner. The aim is to identify hazards, decide who may be harmed and how, assess the likelihood and severity of harm, and implement controls using the hierarchy of control. The assessment should also identify any further action, who is responsible and when it must be completed.

The following approach is adapted from the HSE’s general guidance on managing workplace risks. There are five steps involved in an abrasive wheel risk assessment:

• Identify the hazards
• Decide who might be harmed and how
• Evaluate the risks, including existing controls, and decide what further precautions are needed
• Record the significant findings and implement the actions
• Review the controls and update the assessment when necessary

To begin, list the jobs or tasks in your workplace that are likely to involve abrasive wheels. Include non-routine activities such as wheel selection and mounting, maintenance, cleaning, fault-finding, transport and storage, as well as normal use. Consider each machine, wheel, material, location and operating environment separately where the hazards or controls differ.

For each task, you will need to walk through the activities involved in order to identify any hazards. Involve your colleagues in these situations. They often have valuable knowledge and experience in these activities.

Check the machine and wheel manufacturers’ instructions, safety data for the material and any coating being worked on, previous assessments, maintenance and inspection records, and records of defects, near misses, accidents or ill health.

The first stage of the risk assessment process is to identify the hazards. Abrasive wheels revolve at very high speeds, so there is a range of mechanical and health hazards. Consider at least:

• Mechanical hazards, including wheel breakage, contact, entanglement, kickback and ejection of the workpiece
• Electricity or compressed-air hazards
• Fire, explosion and hot surfaces
• Dust, fumes and hazardous surface coatings
• Noise
• Hand-arm vibration
• Manual handling and awkward postures
• Carbon monoxide from petrol-powered cut-off saws or other combustion-powered equipment

Loose clothing, jewellery, long hair or unsuitable gloves can be drawn into moving parts. Impact injuries can result from flying debris or fragments released when a wheel is damaged, incorrectly selected, improperly mounted, over-speeded or misused. The workpiece can also shift or be ejected. Direct contact with a running wheel can cause severe cuts or abrasions.

Combustible materials can catch fire if they come into contact with sparks, hot particles or heat from cutting or grinding. Heat can travel through conductive materials, such as steel or metal pipework, to combustible materials out of sight. Sparks may enter openings or hidden voids and smoulder before a fire becomes visible, including after the work has finished.

Grinding can also ignite flammable gases, vapours or combustible dusts. Metal dusts, including some aluminium or magnesium dusts, can present serious fire and explosion hazards. Before grinding tanks, drums or pipework, confirm that they have been safely isolated, emptied, cleaned and checked for hazardous residues. Where dangerous substances may create a fire or explosion risk, assess and control the work under the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR).

Identify the workpiece and any paint, coating, contamination or residue before work starts. Grinding concrete, stone and similar construction materials can create very high levels of respirable crystalline silica. Stop work and seek competent advice if asbestos-containing material is known or suspected.

Electrical equipment must be suitable for the task, supply and environment. Damaged plugs, cables, switches or casings, unsuitable supplies and trailing leads can create electrical or trip risks. Petrol-powered cut-off saws can produce fatal concentrations of carbon monoxide within minutes when used indoors or in an enclosed space.

When considering abrasive wheel safety, remember that the operator is not the only person at risk. Noise and dust can harm people nearby, while flying debris from the workpiece or a broken wheel can injure co-workers or damage equipment. Sparks, fire, fumes and loss of control may affect people in adjoining areas or on the other side of a wall, floor or partition.

Consider any site visitors or contractors. What precautions must be taken to ensure their safety?

Also consider maintenance and cleaning staff, trainees, young or inexperienced workers, agency workers, lone workers, members of the public and anyone whose health or ability may affect how the work is organised. Record how each group could be harmed rather than listing names alone.

Wheel breakage and contact with a running wheel can have severe consequences, but the level of risk depends on the task, equipment, material, environment, exposure and controls. Assess both the likelihood and severity of harm before and after controls.

Start with elimination or substitution, then use engineering and organisational controls. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the final line of defence, not a substitute for effective control at source.
The precautions should be specific to the machine and task and should follow the manufacturer’s instructions. They may include:

Entanglement

Operators should remove loose clothing and jewellery and tie back long hair. Do not wear gloves where they could be caught by exposed rotating parts; if gloves are needed for another hazard, select them through the risk assessment and follow the manufacturer’s instructions and safe system of work.

Stop and isolate the equipment before clearing a blockage or making an adjustment.

Contact with the Wheel

Operators should work from a stable, balanced position without overreaching. Keep the floor clear and reduce slip and trip risks. Secure or clamp the workpiece where necessary.

The correct guard must be fitted, secured and positioned as the manufacturer specifies to shield the operator while exposing only the part of the wheel needed for the work. Never operate the machine without the required guard. Remove or adjust a guard only when the machine is isolated and the work is authorised.

Kickback and Slippage

Use the auxiliary handle supplied by the manufacturer and hold handheld tools with both hands where designed for this.

Keep handles dry, clean and free from oil or grease.

Use the correct wheel and technique, avoid twisting, jamming or excessive pressure, and do not use the side of a cutting-off wheel for grinding. Allow the wheel to stop naturally before putting the tool down.

Wheel Selection and Speed

Select a wheel that is suitable for the machine, material, operation, diameter and bore. Check its markings, restrictions of use and use-by date where applicable.

The machine’s no-load spindle speed must not exceed the maximum speed marked on the wheel. Do not improvise adapters or modify the wheel, guard or machine.

Inspection, Mounting and Trial Run

Isolate all energy sources before changing a wheel. A person who selects or mounts wheels must have suitable training and competence for that task.

Inspect the machine, guard, spindle and wheel before use; carry out a ring test only on wheel types for which that test is appropriate. Use the correct flanges, blotters, bushes and tightening method specified by the manufacturer. Remove defective or suspect equipment from service.

After mounting a new wheel, carry out any trial run required by the manufacturer or HSE guidance, with people standing clear of the wheel’s plane.

Flying Debris

Use the correctly adjusted guard and suitable screens as well as an exclusion zone. A cordon alone will not contain high-speed fragments. Direct sparks and debris away from people, combustible materials, glazing, vehicles and other vulnerable equipment.

Fire and Explosion

Avoid hot work where a safer method is reasonably practicable. Remove or protect combustible material, including material in hidden voids or on the opposite side of the work, and check for flammable atmospheres, combustible dusts and residues.

Provide extinguishing equipment suitable for the foreseeable fire, maintain a fire watch during the work and continue monitoring for an appropriate period afterwards. Use a hot-work permit where the risk and site arrangements justify one.

Dust

Assess the material and process under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations. Eliminate or reduce dust at source using a safer method, wet suppression or effective on-tool extraction. Do not rely on a dust mask or use dry sweeping or compressed air to clean settled dust.

Where residual exposure requires respiratory protective equipment (RPE), select RPE that is adequate and suitable, compatible with other PPE, and supported by training, maintenance and supervision. Tight-fitting RPE must be face-fit tested for the wearer and requires a clean-shaven seal.

For grinding concrete or similar construction materials, HSE guidance specifies H- or M-class on-tool extraction and APF 20 RPE, such as FFP3 or a P3 filter.

Noise

Assess daily or weekly exposure and reduce noise at source through quieter methods, suitable equipment, maintenance, isolation and limits on exposure time. Provide hearing protection where exposure cannot be reduced enough by other means.

The lower and upper exposure action values are 80 and 85 dB(A), and the exposure limit value is 87 dB(A), taking account of hearing protection. Here, dB(A) means A-weighted decibels: the measurement is adjusted to reflect the human ear’s sensitivity to different sound frequencies.

Mark hearing-protection zones where required and ensure protection does not prevent people from detecting alarms or other warnings.

Vibration

Assess daily hand-arm vibration exposure using reliable vibration data and actual trigger time. The daily exposure action value is 2.5 m/s² A(8), and the exposure limit value is 5 m/s² A(8). A(8) means daily vibration exposure normalised to an eight-hour reference period, taking account of both vibration magnitude and exposure duration.

Select lower-vibration tools and methods, maintain equipment, avoid unnecessary grip force, plan work to limit exposure and provide health surveillance where there is a risk to health. Regular breaks alone are not an adequate control for hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).

Electricity

Check that the equipment is suitable for the electrical supply and environment. Carry out user checks and risk-based inspection and maintenance, manage cables, and use a residual current device (RCD) where appropriate as a secondary protective measure.

Isolate equipment before maintenance and withdraw damaged equipment from use until it has been repaired and checked by a competent person.

Combustion-powered Equipment

Use a safer alternative to petrol-powered equipment indoors or in enclosed spaces wherever possible. Do not use petrol-powered cut-off saws indoors or in an enclosed space unless ventilation needs have been fully assessed by a competent person and suitable specialist controls have been provided.

Emergencies and Lone Work

Make sure alarms and warnings remain perceptible while noise controls and hearing protection are in use; visual or vibrating warnings may be needed. Assess lone working separately.

A co-worker or assistant should be present only where the assessment identifies this as a necessary control, supported by a clear emergency procedure.

Other risk controls that may be required include:

Adequate Training and Competence

Only people who have received adequate, role-specific training and have been assessed as competent should select, mount or use abrasive wheels, or supervise that work. Training should cover the particular machine, wheel, material and safe system of work.

An online awareness course or attendance certificate alone is not proof of competence.

Safe Storage

Abrasive wheels should be handled carefully and stored in suitable racks or compartments in dry conditions away from extreme temperatures, moisture, impact and contamination. Follow the manufacturer’s storage instructions, use-by dates and stock-rotation requirements.

Personal Protective Equipment

Select PPE from the findings of the risk assessment. This will commonly include suitable impact-rated eye or face protection and may include hearing protection, RPE, protective footwear, protective clothing or gloves.

Check that items are compatible and do not introduce hazards. Do not prescribe gloves automatically near rotating machinery, and do not assume that a face shield or generic dust mask provides adequate protection.

Employee Welfare

Organise the work to prevent fatigue and cold hands, allow suitable recovery time, and provide washing facilities where dust or contamination creates a need. Welfare measures support, but do not replace, engineering and organisational controls.

Every employer must carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. If the employer has five or more employees, they must record the significant findings. The law does not require every detail to be written down, but the record must be proportionate and useful.

Record the hazards, who may be harmed and how, the controls already in place, any further action required, the person responsible, the completion date and the remaining risk. Check that actions are completed and that controls work in practice.

HSE provides a general risk assessment template, not an abrasive-wheel-specific template, so adapt it to the actual task rather than relying on generic wording.

Review the controls to make sure they are working and the assessment remains valid.

There is no fixed statutory interval for reviewing an abrasive-wheels risk assessment. It must be reviewed if there is reason to suspect that it is no longer valid or if there has been a significant change in the matters to which it relates, and revised where necessary.

Review the assessment before introducing new equipment or processes and after an accident, near miss, wheel breakage, recurring defect, report of ill health or worker concern. A planned review date can be a useful backstop, with the interval based on risk, but it must not delay a review triggered by change or evidence that controls may be ineffective. Record and communicate any updates.

PUWER requires adequate training for people who use work equipment and for employees who supervise or manage its use. It does not require every member of staff to complete the same generic abrasive wheel course.

Training should match each person’s role, existing competence, equipment, task and level of supervision. It should combine suitable theory with practical instruction, supervised practice and an assessment of competence. People who select or mount wheels need specific instruction in wheel markings and restrictions, inspection, correct mounting components, guards, speed checks and trial runs. Supervisors need enough knowledge to recognise unsafe conditions and enforce the agreed controls.

The Human Focus Abrasive Wheels Training course is described as an IIRSM-approved online awareness course. It includes a multiple-choice assessment and provides a downloadable certificate following successful completion. It can support the knowledge element of an employer’s training programme, but neither completion of the course nor its certificate, on its own, demonstrates practical competence to select, mount or use abrasive wheels safely.

The Human Focus IOSH Managing Safely Course can support wider management knowledge but is not abrasive-wheel operator training. The Human Focus Work Equipment Risk Assessment course can support understanding of the risk-assessment process but does not, by itself, demonstrate competence to assess a particular abrasive-wheel task. These courses do not replace task-specific risk assessment, practical instruction, supervision or competence checks.

Keep suitable training and competence records. Refresh or supplement training at suitable intervals and whenever changes to equipment, wheels, materials, tasks or procedures—or evidence from incidents, near misses or supervision—indicate a need. A certificate expiry date may provide an administrative reminder, but it should not be the sole basis for deciding when further training is required.