PUWER Training

This PUWER course provides a general awareness of how to ensure compliance with this key legislation. It helps users understand the legal requirements to ensure work equipment is used safely throughout its lifecycle.

PUWER 1998 legislation places a legal duty on employers and organisations whose employees operate equipment. Among these requirements employers must ensure equipment is suitable for use and safely used. All employees operating any such equipment must be provided with adequate information, instruction and training to use their equipment safely. Specified risks of equipment must be suitably controlled.

PUWER applies to every sector where the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies. This includes in factories, offices, shops, schools and universities, and places of entertainment.

All equipment used for work purposes is covered by PUWER regulations. PUWER defines equipment as any equipment, machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation. The scope of work equipment is extremely wide. It covers equipment such as pens and paper in an office environment, heavy plant and machinery in an industrial environment , and registers and mannequins in a retail environment.

There were 142 worker fatalities and 441,000 injuries in the latest year that data was available in the UK. At the same time, around 4.7 million working days were lost to non-fatal workplace injuries.

Employers have a financial, legal and moral duty to prevent workplace accidents and injuries from occurring. Ensuring the safety of any of the work equipment they operate, and compliance with PUWER legislation, is vital to doing that.

By helping raise awareness of these issues, the PUWER training course helps to ensure that PUWER legislation is followed. It provides guidance on how employers should ensure safe usage and inspection of all equipment used at work.