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Integrity Lift Compliance
Knowledge Base

How Often Are PUWER Inspections Required?

PUWER does not set a fixed interval like LOLER's six or twelve months. It requires an inspection where equipment's safety depends on how it is installed, and at suitable intervals where it is exposed to conditions that could cause dangerous deterioration. The interval is set by risk assessment, the result must be recorded, and power presses are the one exception with fixed statutory intervals.

Written and reviewed by Mark Crowley, Director, Integrity Lift Compliance Ltd — 26+ years hands-on lifting equipment engineering — NHS, commercial and industrial estates

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PUWER inspection frequencies in practice
EquipmentTypical frequencyBasis
Power press6 or 12 months, plus guard checks each working periodFixed by PUWER Regulations 32 to 35
Harnesses and lanyards6 months, or 3 for arduous useHSE guidance (Work at Height Regulations)
Escalators and moving walkways6 monthsGuidelines drawn up in consultation with HSE
Dock levellers12 monthsRisk assessment
Woodworking machinesAt set-up, plus a periodic inspectionRisk assessment
Grinders and abrasive wheelsBefore use and at each wheel changeRisk assessment and training

Does PUWER set a fixed interval?

No. PUWER 1998 Regulation 5 requires work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair at all times, and Regulation 6 requires inspection at suitable intervals where the equipment can deteriorate dangerously. What counts as suitable depends on the equipment, how hard it is used and the conditions it works in. The only fixed statutory intervals in PUWER are for power presses.

When does PUWER require a formal inspection?

Regulation 6 requires an inspection where equipment's safety depends on installation conditions (after installation and before first use, and after assembly at a new site or location), or where deterioration could give rise to danger (at suitable intervals and after any exceptional circumstance).

What counts as an inspection?

Whatever checks are needed to find deterioration that could make the equipment dangerous, carried out by someone competent to spot it. Depending on the equipment, that might be a visual check, a functional test of guards, interlocks and emergency stops, or a measurement such as a braking or stopping time. It is more than the user's pre-use check, and it is recorded.

How do you set an interval?

Start from the manufacturer's instructions, then adjust for how intensively the equipment is used, the environment it works in, its age and condition, what previous inspections found, and what would happen if it failed. Heavy use, harsh conditions and serious consequences all point to shorter intervals. Write the interval and the reasoning into the risk assessment, so it can be shown to an inspector and reviewed when things change.

What are typical inspection frequencies?

These are common practice rather than law, except where noted. Power presses have fixed intervals: a thorough examination every six or twelve months depending on the guards, and an inspection and test of the guards by an appointed person after the tools are set or adjusted and in the first four hours of each working period. Fall arrest harnesses and lanyards, which are inspected under the Work at Height Regulations rather than PUWER, are commonly inspected every six months, or three for arduous use, following HSE guidance. Guidelines drawn up in consultation with HSE recommend a thorough examination of escalators and moving walkways normally every six months. Dock levellers are usually inspected every twelve months. Woodworking machines and grinders are checked when they are set up or a wheel is changed, with a periodic inspection set by risk assessment.

What records must be kept?

The result of every inspection required by Regulation 6 must be recorded and kept until the next inspection is recorded. Equipment that leaves your business, or arrives from another one, must be accompanied by physical evidence that its last inspection has been carried out. Where machinery has a maintenance log, the log must be kept up to date.

When do LOLER intervals apply instead?

For lifting equipment specifically, LOLER 1998's fixed six- or twelve-month Thorough Examination cycle takes over from PUWER's more general 'suitable intervals' language, giving duty-holders a clear statutory deadline rather than a judgement call.

Sources & Further Reading

See our full PUWER 1998 Compliance overview
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Related Knowledge

What Is PUWER?
PUWER is the set of UK laws that keeps people safe when they use machinery and tools at work. It covers everything from a hand tool to a factory machine or a vehicle, and it says equipment must be right for the job, kept in safe working order, checked regularly, and used only by people trained to use it. The formal name is the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
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How Often Are LOLER Inspections Required?
Six months for equipment that lifts people and for lifting accessories, twelve months for everything else, or in line with a written examination scheme drawn up by a competent person. That is the whole rule. What catches duty-holders out is rarely the interval itself — it is when the clock starts, what resets it, and the examinations that fall outside the cycle altogether.
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LOLER vs PUWER
PUWER covers all work equipment and sets the general duties: suitable, maintained, inspected where it can deteriorate, guarded and used by trained people. LOLER adds specific duties for equipment that lifts, including a thorough examination at fixed intervals with a prescribed written report. Lifting equipment is covered by both; other work equipment comes under PUWER but not LOLER.
Read article