Guidance · Reviewed August 2026
What PUWER stands for, what counts as work equipment, the main duties by regulation, and the difference between maintenance and inspection that catches most duty holders out.
The short answer
PUWER stands for the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Work equipment must be suitable for the job, maintained in efficient working order, inspected where safety depends on it, and used only by people trained to use it. It applies to almost anything used at work — from a hammer to a CNC lathe — and to equipment you hire, lease or buy second-hand.
What Does PUWER Stand For?
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. They are made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA) and supported by the Approved Code of Practice L22, Safe use of work equipment.
There are 35 regulations in total, but the duties most employers meet in practice sit in regulations 4 to 11. Regulations 11 to 24 deal with the physical side — guarding, controls, isolation, markings. Part III covers mobile work equipment and Part IV power presses, which have their own specialist guidance.
What an Approved Code of Practice means
L22 has special legal status. Following it is not compulsory — but if you are prosecuted for breaching PUWER and shown not to have followed the ACOP, a court will find you at fault unless you can prove you complied by some other means. In practice that reverses the burden onto you.
What Counts as Work Equipment?
The definition is deliberately wide: any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work. The test is whether an employee uses it at work, not whether it looks like machinery.
Obviously covered
Machinery, power tools, plant, presses, lathes, conveyors, mobile plant and vehicles used for work.
Also covered
Hand tools, ladders and access equipment, lifting accessories, appliances, photocopiers. A hammer is work equipment.
Regardless of ownership
Hired, leased and second-hand equipment. The duty attaches to whoever controls its use, not whoever bought it.
HSE’s own examples are instructive: hammers, knives, ladders, drilling machines, power presses, circular saws, photocopiers, lifting equipment, dumper trucks and motor vehicles. Lower-risk items attract correspondingly lighter controls — nobody expects an inspection regime for staplers — but “we only use hand tools” is not an exemption.
Two points people miss. Equipment an employee provides for their own use at work is covered, so if you let someone bring their own tools you have to make sure they comply. And “use” is interpreted very broadly — it means any activity involving work equipment, including starting, stopping, programming, setting, transporting, repairing, modifying, maintaining, servicing and cleaning. Most serious machinery incidents happen during those secondary activities rather than during normal operation.
One scope limit worth knowing
PUWER does not apply to equipment used by the public — HSE’s example is compressed-air equipment on a garage forecourt. That situation is covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act instead, so it is a change of duty rather than an absence of one.
Who the Duties Fall On
Employers, the self-employed, and anyone with control over work equipment to any extent. That last phrase does a lot of work. It reaches:
- Businesses that hire equipment out to others
- Anyone who allows other people to use equipment they own
- Those supervising work carried out using particular equipment
- Sole traders using their own tools
Assuming the hire company has dealt with it is the single most common misunderstanding, and it is not a defence.
The Main Duties
| Reg | Subject | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Suitability | Equipment must suit the actual task and the conditions it is used in — wet, dusty, confined, flammable. Used only for what it was designed for. A tool fit for a workshop may not be fit for a wet space. |
| 5 | Maintenance | Kept in efficient working order and good repair. Where a maintenance log exists, it must be kept up to date. |
| 6 | Inspection | Inspection where safety depends on installation conditions, or where deterioration could cause danger. Normally done in-house, and expected for higher-risk equipment. |
| 7 | Specific risks | Where use involves specific risk, restrict use, maintenance and repair to designated, trained people. |
| 8 | Information | Adequate health and safety information, and written instructions where appropriate. |
| 9 | Training | Adequate training in methods, risks and precautions — for users and for supervisors and managers. |
| 10 | Conformity | Equipment must comply with the product safety legislation that applied when it was supplied. |
| 11 | Dangerous parts | Guards and protection devices to prevent access to dangerous parts, in a set order of preference. Regulation 11(2) is among the most commonly cited in enforcement. |
| 12–24 | Physical measures | Specified hazards, temperature, controls and control systems, isolation from energy sources, stability, lighting, safe maintenance operations, markings and warnings. |
Maintenance Is Not Inspection
These are separate duties under separate regulations, and conflating them is the most common PUWER failing after training records.
| Maintenance (Reg 5) | Inspection (Reg 6) | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Keep it working properly and in good repair. | Check it remains safe to use. |
| When | As the equipment and its use require. | Where safety depends on installation conditions, or deterioration could cause danger. |
| Interval | No fixed statutory interval. | Risk-based. No fixed statutory interval — unlike LOLER, which sets one. |
A maintenance record does not, by itself, satisfy the inspection duty. The two answer different questions, and an inspector will ask for both.
HSE describes the purpose of a PUWER inspection as identifying whether equipment can be operated, adjusted and maintained safely, and whether any deterioration — defect, damage or wear — can be detected and remedied before it results in unacceptable risks.
Inspections should be carried out by a competent person, which can be one of your own employees if they have the necessary competence, and a record should be kept until the next inspection. HSE also recommends keeping a maintenance record for high-risk equipment.
You may not need both checks
Where equipment is already subject to examination under other legislation — LOLER thorough examination, for instance — a separate PUWER inspection is only needed if those examinations do not fully cover the significant risks arising from its use. Worth checking before you build a duplicate regime.
PUWER Does Not Require a Risk Assessment
A point worth being precise about, because it is widely stated the other way round. There is no regulation in PUWER requiring a risk assessment. HSE says so directly in L22.
The duty to assess risk comes from regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. What PUWER does is tell you what your assessment has to lead to: suitable equipment, maintenance, inspection, training, guarding. So you still need a risk assessment covering work equipment — it just isn’t PUWER that demands it.
This matters if someone asks you to point at the regulation. Getting it wrong looks like you have read a summary rather than the law.
PUWER and LOLER Together
Both date from 1998 and both apply to lifting equipment at the same time. They are not alternatives.
| PUWER | LOLER | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | All work equipment. | Equipment used to lift or lower loads, and lifting accessories. |
| Checks | Inspection, risk-based. | Thorough examination at fixed intervals by a competent person. |
| A crane | Applies. | Applies as well. |
If lifting is a significant part of your operation, read the LOLER guidance alongside this.
Where PUWER Compliance Usually Fails
Not on the equipment. Machines are generally in reasonable condition. What is missing is the record showing suitability was assessed, that inspections happened on a schedule, and that the person operating it was trained.
PUWER is one of those regulations where an organisation can be doing the right thing in practice and still be unable to prove it — which, to an inspector, is the same thing. The most commonly found failures cluster around inspection record-keeping, training evidence, and guarding under regulation 11.
Tracking who is trained on what
Regulation 9 training evidence is the gap inspectors find most often. Map requirements by role and equipment, and see when certificates expire — free, no account needed. The tool sits on envicourse.com, our course marketplace, and opens in a new tab.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does PUWER stand for?
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Does PUWER require a risk assessment?
No — there is no regulation within PUWER requiring one. The duty comes from regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. You do need an assessment covering work equipment; it just isn’t PUWER that requires it.
How often must equipment be inspected under PUWER?
There is no fixed statutory interval. Inspection is risk-based — determined by the equipment, how it is used and how quickly it deteriorates. This is a real difference from LOLER, which sets 6 and 12-month periods. If you are applying LOLER intervals to all your work equipment you are doing more than the law asks; if you have no inspection schedule at all, you are doing less.
Does PUWER apply to hired or second-hand equipment?
Yes. Duties attach to whoever controls the equipment in use, not only whoever bought it. Hired plant, leased machinery and second-hand purchases all have to be suitable, maintained and used by trained people. It also reaches the business hiring equipment out.
Is a hammer work equipment?
Yes. The definition covers any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work. The controls are proportionate to the risk, so a hammer needs far less than a lathe — but it is in scope, and “we only use hand tools” is not an exemption.
What is L22?
HSE’s Approved Code of Practice and guidance for PUWER, titled Safe use of work equipment. Following it isn’t compulsory, but if you’re prosecuted and shown not to have followed it, a court will find you at fault unless you can prove you complied another way. Two further Approved Codes sit alongside it: L112 for power presses and L114 for woodworking machinery.
Related Guidance
PUWER training courses →
Risk assessment →
Working at height →
HASAWA 1974 explained →
All guidance topics →
General guidance only, reviewed against HSE guidance, ACOP L22 and PUWER 1998 in August 2026. This does not replace a competent person’s assessment. Envico is an independent training intermediary and is not affiliated with the HSE.