The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 place a statutory requirement on employers to:
- Look at all work equipment in use, decide what can cause risks and how
- Consider what can be done to prevent and reduce these risks
- Check whether any of these measures are in place already
- Decide whether more needs to be done, and if so, do it
Many things can cause a risk, for example:
- Using the wrong regulator on a gas cylinder
- Not fitting flashback arrestors to oxy-fuel gas workstations
- Not providing the right practical based training for those using the equipment
- Not maintaining regulators and other gas control equipment in line with relevant Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes
- Not replacing regulators every five years or in line with manufacturers recommendations
- Not providing standard operating procedures on the use of cylinders and associated gas control equipment
What can you do to reduce the risk?
- Use the correct equipment for the gases required on site
- Make sure all gas control equipment in use is to the correct British, European or International Standards
- Make sure all gas control equipment is regularly maintained in a safe condition
- Make sure all gas control equipment is replaced in line with recommendations
- Ensure standard operating procedures are in place covering the correct set up and use of single cylinders, oxy-fuel gas workstations and cryogenic vessels
- Ensure all operators are properly trained in the safe use of the equipment
Our training workshops provide both theoretical and practical instruction to enable you to comply with the regulations.
