Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Woodworking
On 5 December this year, the new Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, or PUWER 98 as they are more commonly known, came into force. This was a very important date for the woodworking industry. At that time, the three remaining regulations from the Woodworking Machines Regulations 1974 that were still in force (regulations 13, 20 and 39) were repealed.
PUWER 98 replaces the PUWER 92 Regulations and is supported by a revised general Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance. In addition to this there is an ACOP that is specific to woodworking. Details of both documents are given in the New publications from HSE section on page 4.
The general ACOP and guidance publication (L22) provides comment on each of the regulations. The woodworking ACOP (L114), however, only deals with those regulations where it is considered that more detailed explanation, clarification, advice and guidance above and beyond that provided in the general publication is necessary. In the main, this is in the areas of guarding, safe operation (including maintenance) and the selection, training and supervision of operators.
The two ACOPs are therefore complementary and need to be read together rather than in isolation.
Where the fundamental requirements and standards from the previous 1974 Regulations are still relevant and valid, they have been carried forward to the PUWER 98 Regulations (updated as necessary to take account of technological advances and developments such as CEN standards for machinery). There are, however, two major changes from the previous requirements. These are the provision and use of chip thickness limitation tooling (also known as limited cutter projection tooling) on certain hand-fed machines and the retrofitting of braking to certain types and classes of machine.
For tooling, the requirement is being introduced under the terms of regulation 4 of PUWER 98 which deals with selecting suitable work equipment. The relevant text in L114 can be found in paragraphs 41 to 44 inclusive. The retrofitting of braking to certain classes of machine, where a risk assessment shows this to be necessary, is covered by regulation 15 which deals with stop controls. The relevant text in L114 can be found in paragraphs 130 to 135 inclusive. In both cases, the requirements are to be phased in over time: five years for tooling and five, seven or ten years for braking, depending on the machine.
To help users of woodworking machinery who will be affected by these changes, the WOODNIG has produced two new Woodworking Information Sheets, WIS37 and WIS38. Copies of these are enclosed with this edition.
The ACOP also deals with the need to pay particular attention to the training and supervision requirements of young people. * This is not a new concept - it was previously covered by regulation 13 of the 1974 Woodworking Machines Regulations - but now the requirement derives not from PUWER 98, but from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 as amended by the Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997. The relevant text in L114 can be found in paragraphs 18 to 21 inclusive and Appendix 1.
* 'Young person' means any person who has not reached the age of 18; see the Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997, reg 2 (2) (e)
Implementing these changes is as much a management issue as a hardware issue. The summary below identifies the key points which those who have responsibility for health and safety in the workplace will need to be aware of and address if the changes are to be managed successfully.
and certainly no later than 5 December 2003.
Don't leave it until the last minute!
Two new Woodworking Information Sheets have been published on cross-cut saws. They are:
Produced by the WOODNIG with the help of suppliers, trade associations, training providers and trade unions, it is the first time HSE has produced specific guidance for these common machines. Over a ten-year period (1985-95) HSE inspectors investigated 276 accidents at manually operated cross-cut saws and 78 accidents at power-operated cross-cut saws. Injuries often included amputation of hands or fingers.
Many woodworking premises use cross-cut saws and inspectors will be looking to see that the guidance is being implemented and followed. On manually operated machines the basic aim is to enclose as much of the saw blade as possible for as long as possible. All should have a fixed guard enclosing the non-cutting part of the blade and guards for enclosing the blade when at rest. Depending on the type of manual cross-cut saw, either an adjustable nose guard at the front edge of the saw blade or a self-closing guard around the saw blade will also be necessary.
For power-operated cross-cut saws an appropriate combination of guards preventing access to the cutting zone, two-hand control devices to initiate saw blade movement, and consideration of the operator's working position will prevent access to the blade. Copies are enclosed with hard copies of WOODNIG NEWS.
In the previous edition of WOODNIG NEWS (Issue 11 of August 1998), attention was drawn to a case study in the HSE publication HSG138 Sound solutions. It has been pointed out to us that there could be some ambiguity in the article. We referred to a planer thicknessing machine but made no mention of surfacing. This is the operation to which the 6 mm maximum gap which is mentioned in the article applies (and which was a requirement under regulation 25 of the now repealed 1974 Woodworking Machines Regulations).
On panel planers, the table gaps are often opened up to allow the chips to escape freely and this is acceptable, provided that effective guarding for the cutters is provided. Those readers who still have a (treasured) copy of the 1970 publication HSW41 Safety in the use of woodworking machinery will find an illustration of just such a guard in Figure 48 on page 53. We trust that this clarifies the issue and apologise for any confusion that may have been caused.
You should have heard about the Year 2000 Problem - but do you realise it could affect your business? This issue was discussed at the last meeting of the Woodworking Industries Forum (see Issue 10 for details of the Forum).
The problem is not simply linked to 1 January 2000; other dates of concern are: 1 January 1999 and 9 September 1999 (99 used as an end of file marker by programmers); 29 February 2000; 1 March 2000; 31 December 2000; and 1 January 2001 (all leap year issues related to the correct day of the week or the number of days in the year).
Every type of electronics-based system may be affected - PCs, mainframe and mini computers, microprocessors and embedded systems (chips). Chips are built into many modern instruments, controllers and machinery, often with a timer which is not normally visible, not used directly by the operator, and not accessible for modification by the user.
Woodworking machinery, processing plant, extraction systems, timber treatment plant, conveying and packaging equipment may all have these systems. Some may control safety related functions; others may not be safety related, but may have other effects on your business, eg stopping production.
Any failure may have severe consequences, but there is also a potential cumulative effect from many programmable electronic systems (PESs) failing at the same time. Failure may place additional demands on safety or other systems which, in some cases, will not have been designed to handle multiple, apparently unrelated, failures.
Remember that some PESs will have little or no impact on safety, others will not be date-dependent and others will be able to operate successfully. All these can be removed from the assessment, but you will not know which unless you begin the assessment process.
Remember they may have some other impact on your business.
Further information is available in HSE's leaflets INDG267 Health and safety and the year 2000 problem and INDG283 Contingency planning for a safe year 2000 (available from HSE Books).
Many readers will already be aware that there has been a change of staff in the WOODNIG. The change came too late for us to include details in the last edition. After three and a half years in the WOODNIG, first at Luton and subsequently at Stoneleigh, Steve Hull has transferred to the HSE office at Basingstoke where he has moved onto operational duties.
Steve did some excellent work in his time with the WOODNIG, particularly on the development of training standards for machinists, of European Standards for all types of saws and sawmilling, for which he is perhaps best known. He is not however totally lost to the industry, as he is now putting his acquired expertise to good use at the sharp end of HSE's business, inspecting woodworking establishments among others. Readers in the counties of Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight can therefore look forward to a visit from Steve, sooner or later!
Steve's place in the WOODNIG has been taken by Adrian Hodkinson who has joined us from the Northampton office. Adrian has been with HSE as an Inspector for nearly eight years and brings a breadth of experience gained from working with a variety of industries including woodworking. He has taken on all of Steve's portfolio of responsibilities, together with the responsibility for a rboriculture which also resides with us here at Stoneleigh
Four research projects are currently underway for the WOODNIG. Three relate to stacking and they are:
The fourth is looking at kickback protection devices on double slabber machines.
It seems likely the projects on banding and double slabbers will report to the WOODNIG soon. Log stacking and sawn timber stacking will report during 1999.
Banding project:
There are reservations about the use of polypropylene banding to band
timber packs with cross-sections greater than 0.5 m2 and masses
greater than 400 kg, particularly when these packs are to be
stacked.
Double slabber project:
Analysis has determined the typical swing arm method of kickback
protection is generally satisfactory. However, the shape of the
arm(s), position with respect to the saw blades, and angle to the
logs are important.
The WOODNIG will keep you informed and will publicise the final conclusions to both industry and HSE inspectors.
Details of recently published HSE publications which may be of interest to the woodworking industry are listed below.
HSE priced and free publications are available by mail order from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS. Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995.
HSE priced publications are also available from good booksellers.
For other enquiries ring HSE's InfoLine Tel: 0845 345 0055, or write to HSE Infoline, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly, CF83 3GG
What do you think of WOODNIG NEWS?
What would you like to see in future editions?
Send your views to Chris Molde at the address below.
WOODNIG NEWS is produced bt the HSE's Woodworking National Interest Group based at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ.
Added to Web site 1/02/99