AFME-PUW-GDE-001 Engineer’s Guide to PUWER in Food Manufacturing
A plain-English guide to the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) for engineers in food manufacturing. Based on HSE L22, it explains what counts as work equipment, who has duties, every regulation in food-factory terms, guarding, isolation, inspection and training, and where PUWER and food safety meet, with real factory examples and a practical machine assessment checklist.
What is included
• Cover page with document control (code, revision, date) • How to use this resource, who it is for and related legislation and standards • What PUWER is, what counts as work equipment and who has duties • Every PUWER regulation explained in plain English with food factory examples • Suitability, maintenance and inspection, including pre-use checks versus inspections and thorough examinations • Guarding dangerous parts and the Regulation 11 hierarchy • Controls, emergency stops and isolation of every energy source • Where food safety and PUWER meet: guards, hygiene and cleaning • 20-point PUWER machine assessment checklist • Enforcement, key points to remember and glossary
Who this resource is for
Apprentices, maintenance engineers and technicians, shift engineers, engineering supervisors and managers, project engineers, and anyone new to machinery safety in food manufacturing.
How to use this resource
1. Read Sections 1 to 3 to understand what PUWER covers and who is responsible. 2. Use Section 4 as a quick reference to every regulation that matters in a food factory. 3. Read Sections 5 to 8 for guarding, isolation, cleaning and maintenance. 4. Use the Section 10 checklist to assess a machine and record what you find. 5. Check anything important against HSE L22 and your own site risk assessments before acting on it.
