Work equipment - risk assessment and safe system of work

If staff are using potentially dangerous work equipment, such as a fork lift truck or ladder, use this document to set out the risks associated and ensure safety.

All the facts

Our Work Equipment - Risk Assessment and Safe System of Work document will help you to ensure that workers understand how to use the equipment in the correct and safe manner.

Note. This isn’t a replacement for the equipment’s manual. It should be used to highlight the key points and to act as a signpost to additional information, e.g. any manual or guidance from the manufacturer.

What to do

The first part of the document provides space to give details about the equipment and insert a photo. This makes it easier to identify precisely what equipment you’re covering. There is also space for details or even weblinks to the manual or further information.

The next part asks you to list the key instructions to be followed. There is space for twelve instructions but we suggest you add/remove lines as necessary.

Following the guidance on how to use the equipment, you’ll find a risk assessment section. The key identifies how the levels of risk should be calculated.