HSE PUBLISHES RESEARCH ON THE USE OF WORK EQUIPMENT DIRECTIVE

HSE press release - E120:03 - 4 July 2003

The Health and Safety Executive today publishes a research report on the evaluation of the implementation of the Use of Work Equipment Directive (UWED) and the Amended Use of Work Equipment Directive (AUWED) in the UK.

The report evaluates the implementation of the Amending Directive (95/63/EC) to the Use of Work Equipment Directive (89/655/EEC) in Great Britain as enacted by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER). The evaluation describes how organisations responded to the regulations, the costs and benefits, compliance problems and areas where improvement could be made to the regulations and approved codes of practices (ACoPs).

Among the key findings are that duty holders believe that the regulations have led to safety improvements, such as safer equipment, improved working practices and a more competent workforce. The regulations are also generally believed to be an improvement on previous industry-specific regulations, and offer many advantages such as flexibility and practicality.

Duty holders, including small and medium sized enterprises (SME's), have, on the whole, reported that they do not believe that the costs of compliance with PUWER 98 and LOLER have caused concern. The costs of this legislation were examined across a number of sectors, including construction, local authorities, agriculture, health care and social services.

The introduction of LOLER and PUWER 98 has yet to generate a detectable reduction in injury rates. However, this is not surprising as the requirement to fit restraining systems and rollover protection to workplace transport only came into force on 5 December 2002, and therefore the full benefits of PUWER 98 were not captured within the timescale of the evaluation. There are also no apparent changes in defect rates or productivity.

The research found that there is a reasonable level of awareness and compliance with the regulations, although there is a need to communicate better with SME's, as over a third of small businesses, with equipment covered by the regulations, had not heard of the legislation.

The review highlighted a number of areas where the regulations, or ACoP, could be improved. These areas included: - the need for more basic English and clearer Guidance to enable SME's to better understand the regulations; the need for the ACoPs to contain indexes; the need for more industry specific guidance and practical examples; and the need for greater clarity and consistency surrounding terminology such as "competent person" and "thorough examination."

Gwyneth Deakins of the Health and Safety Executive said: "The research shows that changes to and the implementation of new regulations governing the use of work equipment in Great Britain has on the whole, been successfully undertaken. This research fulfils the European Commission's requirement to evaluate the implementation of its directives on the use of work equipment regulations."

A copy of the report Evaluation of the implementation of the use of work equipment directive and the amending directive to the use of work equipment directive in the UK series RR 125 and ISBN 0 7176 2702 0, priced £20 can be purchased from HSE Books. The report will shortly be available on the HSE website at
http/www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/index.htm

Notes to editors

1. The review was carried out because the European Commission requires Member States to report on implementation of Directives after 5 years and the research enables Britain to meet that commitment. The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) implemented the Amended Use of Work Equipment Directive (AUWED) (95/63/EC) in Great Britain, in 1998.

2. Greenstreet Berman, an independent research organisation, carried out the AUWED research project during 2002 on HSE's behalf, and all findings quoted are taken from their research report.

3. Due to the need to modify large amounts of equipment, a four year transition period, which expired on 5 December 2002, was built into PUWER 98 to enable employers, where required, to spread the cost of fitting roll over protection and restraints systems to existing mobile work equipment (i.e. fork lift trucks).

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