The document discusses health, safety and environment issues at a company. It reports 10 injuries so far for the year and an injury rate of 2.51, with the last recordable injury occurring 105 days ago. It then discusses regulations around provision and use of work equipment, providing examples of equipment. It notes the regulations require equipment be suitable, safe, maintained safely, and only used by trained individuals. It discusses two safety incidents - an employee dying after being trapped in machinery without proper guarding, and a worker breaking his arm on a machine with its safety cover removed. It stresses the importance of reviewing risk assessments for equipment before use to understand hazards, safety devices, inspections and protection measures required.

1. Health, Safety and Environment
Weekly Safety Review 26 SIMS awaiting
First Aid Recordable
Managers Comments
No. injuries ytd 10 1
Injury rate ytd 2.51 0.36
No. days worked since 105
last OSHA recordable (30/5/11) Injury
Issue Date : 20 / 9 / 2011 Performance
No. days worked since 105 INJURY
PUWER - Provision & Use of Work Equipment last RIDDOR injury (30/05/11) FREE
WEEK
Regulations 1998 10
Work Equipment – Included is any tool or item of powered or non
powered equipment that we use at work.
Examples include hammers, knives, spanners, ladders, drilling machines, power
presses, circular saws, extension cables, photocopiers, lifting equipment (including
lifts), FLT’s and motor vehicles.
What does PUWER do?
The Regulations require that equipment provided for use at work is:
■ suitable for the intended use;
■ safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and, in certain
circumstances, inspected to ensure this remains the case;
■ used only by people who have received adequate information,
instruction and training; and
■ accompanied by suitable safety measures, eg protective devices,
markings, warnings.
Safety failings
An employee of Duco International Ltd died after becoming trapped in machinery.
He was operating a machine checking rolls of rubber and cloth for flaws. The
accident was only possible because a
Its lack of guarding permitted access to the
dangerous parts, and
A worker at a mushroom farm in Somerset broke his arm as he worked at a net
washing machine which had its to allow
workers to gain access as it was running with the safety cover open.
In the last 18 months there have been 15 incidents recorded in SIMS where guards
were missing or left insecure. One example is …..
A drill rig was used on site – the Risk Assessment for use of the equipment
identified a , but the
. We reviewed the equipment for permitry reasons, and having
identified the missing guard the job was stopped until the guard was replaced.

2. So before we use any item of Work Equipment, we need to familiarise
ourselves with the Risk Assessment for the combination of the
equipment and the task. This will identify …….
 If training is needed before using the item
 What pre-use checks need to be carried out before using the item
 What safety devices are fitted, and how they work
 If the item needs periodic inspections, and how and where these
are recorded
 What hazards might be encountered when using the item
 What protection or control measures need to be used or in place
with the item
Remember, before you use an item of work equipment - make sure :-
 You have been authorised and trained to use it
 You know how to use it and any fitted safety devices
 You have read and understood the risk assessment for it’s use