Assessing your workshop
Conditions will vary from clean workshops to those where machines are buried under dust and off-cuts. General tidiness is often a good indication of how well other issues are being managed[1].
Machinery[2] should all be well maintained and have the correct safeguards. It should also only be used by those trained[3] and competent to do so and you should be able to provide evidence to prove this.
Inspectors will also look at braking[4] and tooling[5] as well as any other safety[6] issues, such as work at height and transport.
There should also be good control of health risks[7] from wood dust[8] (that can cause asthma or dermatitis), manual handling[9], noise[10] and hazardous substances[11].
Have the right paperwork
Inspectors will ask to see copies of COSHH assessments [12]and risk assessments [13]if you have more than five employees, and health surveillance [14]records (or summaries).
There should be evidence of maintenance and test records for any extraction equipment and instructions for employees on how to use it properly (see extraction section in wood dust[15]).
There should also be written instructions provided to employees covering:
- training and supervision[16] for machinery
- Information on health hazards[17] and how to control the risks
- how to use and care for dust masks