The latest statistics advise that 25% of all major accidents in the woodworking and furniture industries are caused by contact with moving machinery. Many of these could have been avoided had appropriate braking devices been fitted.

The final deadline of 5 December 2008 has now passed and all woodworking machines, where a risk assessment shows it to be necessary, should be fitted with braking devices to reduce the rundown time for the cutting tools.

Note: For most woodworking machines braking is considered necessary and should have been fitted to machines such as circular saws and tenoning machines by 5 December 2003. For machines such as band saws, vertical spindle moulders and planning/thicknessing machines, brakes should have been fitted by 5 December 2005. For all other machines, such as moulders, the work should have been completed by 5 December 2008.

Further guidance and a more comprehensive list of machinery are contained in L114: Safe use of woodworking machinery, Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 as applied to woodworking machinery and Woodworking Information Sheet No.38: PUWER 98: retrofitting of braking to woodworking machines