Regulation & compliance
PUWER 1998
User-side law in Great Britain: work equipment must be suitable, maintained, inspected and safe to use.
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- Category
- Regulation & compliance
- Scope
- Great Britain
- Edition / refs
- SI 1998/2306 · HSE L22
MSA output
- PUWER compliance report
- Guard & access analysis
- Device fitness gap register
- Risk assessment
What is PUWER 1998?
PUWER 1998 places duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment in Great Britain. It covers all work equipment, from hand tools to complete production lines, new or second-hand, and is supported by the HSE Approved Code of Practice and guidance L22.
PUWER is user-side legislation. New machinery must also meet supply law, and PUWER regulation 10 requires work equipment to conform to the essential requirements of the product legislation that applied when it was first supplied. Existing equipment is assessed against PUWER as part of the employer’s risk assessment under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Northern Ireland has equivalent regulations.
Who it applies to
- Employers and site operators in Great Britain
- System integrators modifying or relocating existing equipment
- Maintenance and engineering managers
- Consultants carrying out PUWER assessments
Key requirements
- 01
Suitability (reg. 4)
Equipment must be suitable for its purpose and for the conditions in which it is used.
- 02
Maintenance and inspection (regs. 5–6)
Maintain equipment in efficient working order and inspect it where safety depends on installation conditions or deterioration.
- 03
Information and training (regs. 8–9)
Users and supervisors must have adequate information, instructions and training.
- 04
Conformity with product law (reg. 10)
Equipment must conform to the essential requirements of the supply legislation that applied to it.
- 05
Dangerous parts of machinery (reg. 11)
Prevent access using a hierarchy: fixed guards; other guards or protection devices; protection appliances; then information, instruction, training and supervision.
- 06
Controls, isolation and stability (regs. 14–20)
Start, stop and emergency stop controls, isolation from energy sources and stability — with additional parts for mobile work equipment and power presses.
Summary for orientation only. Always refer to the current official text of PUWER 1998 and any applicable legislation.
MSA for PUWER 1998
What MSA generates
Evidence produced from your engineering inputs, traceable end to end and exported to Word, PDF or Excel.
PUWER compliance report
A structured report against PUWER requirements for each item of work equipment.
Guard & access analysis
Guarding of dangerous parts assessed against the regulation 11 hierarchy.
Device fitness gap register
Gaps in existing safety devices recorded and tracked to close-out.
Risk assessment
The underlying risk assessment, linked to every finding.
Frequently asked questions
Does PUWER apply to CE or UKCA marked machines?
Yes. A conformity marking shows the machine met supply law, but the employer must still ensure it is suitable, maintained, inspected and used safely — and check it for obvious defects.
Is a “PUWER assessment” a legal requirement?
The term does not appear in the Regulations. Employers must assess risks and comply with PUWER’s requirements; a documented PUWER assessment is a common way to demonstrate that they have done so.
Does PUWER apply in Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland has its own Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999, with equivalent requirements.
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