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PUWER risk assessment template
For competent people assessing work-equipment use. Record equipment and use, assessment topics and risk decisions. Try the form below, see every question or download a blank PDF or Word copy.
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What does PUWER assessment need to consider?
HSE describes duties covering suitable work equipment, maintenance, inspection, information, training and protective measures. An assessment must consider the actual tasks and conditions; equipment may also fall under other legislation.
Last updated . Facts checked by the SiteSurvey team on 6 October 2026 against HSE machinery safety and HSE inspection of work equipment.
Try the PUWER equipment assessment form live
Answer a few questions and watch it adapt. Your answers are not saved, and any photos you add are deleted within the hour.
This is the real form as your team would use it: questions appear as you answer, scores work themselves out and you can add photos and signatures. No sign-up needed.
Want to see one filled in? See a completed PUWER equipment assessment report (PDF), made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit.
Fill it in on a phone or tablet
Your team completes the puwer equipment assessment on site in the SiteSurvey app on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. The project name and address fill in for them, it works without signal, and it syncs when the device is back online with photos kept against the question they answer.
Customers and subcontractors do not need the app: send them a link and they can fill it in from any browser.
Every question in the PUWER equipment assessment template
A PUWER assessment record covering intended use, equipment hazards, safeguarding evidence, maintenance arrangements, competence and risk-control decisions. 6 sections and 39 questions. Follow-up questions and guidance appear only when an answer calls for them, so the person on site never sees the ones that do not apply.
Make it your own: every question is editable
This is a starting point, not a fixed form. Once it is in your SiteSurvey account you can reword any question, add or remove questions, sections and answer options, and add your own logo, so it fits the way your team works and the jobs you do.
Details you only enter once
Add this form to a project in SiteSurvey and it fills in what the project already knows, so nobody on site retypes it and every form on the job uses the same names. Anything filled in can still be changed.
- Project: the project name
- Site or premises address: the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisation: the project's customer
Record details and scope
- ProjectShort answer
Filled in from the project in SiteSurvey.
Fills in from the project name - Site or premises addressShort answerFills in from the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisationShort answerFills in from the project's customer
- Record date*Date
- Person completing the record*Short answer
- CheckThis is an assessment aid, not a PUWER certificate, machinery conformity assessment, safety-control validation or substitute for specialist statutory examinations.
- CheckHSE describes duties covering suitable work equipment, maintenance, inspection, information, training and protective measures. An assessment must consider the actual tasks and conditions; equipment may also fall under other legislation.
Equipment and use
- Equipment ID, manufacturer and location*Short answer
- Scan the equipment data plateScan a label: serial number, model number, asset number
Optional. Scan the label or data plate to capture the serial and other numbers.
- Operation, setting, cleaning, maintenance and foreseeable misuse*Notes
Describe the actual use, operating modes and foreseeable interventions being assessed. Identify tasks not covered by the review.
- Users and people exposed*Short answer
- Instructions and relevant conformity documentsShort answer
Assessment topics
- Suitability and stability assessed for actual use*Choose one
- Acceptable
- Action needed
- Not checked
- Not applicable
- Action, limitation or reason not applicable*NotesShown only when the answers above make it relevant
- Dangerous parts and safeguarding evidence reviewed*Choose one
- Acceptable
- Action needed
- Not checked
- Not applicable
- Action, limitation or reason not applicable*NotesShown only when the answers above make it relevant
- Controls, stops and warning arrangements reviewed*Choose one
- Acceptable
- Action needed
- Not checked
- Not applicable
- Action, limitation or reason not applicable*NotesShown only when the answers above make it relevant
- Isolation and stored-energy arrangements reviewed*Choose one
- Acceptable
- Action needed
- Not checked
- Not applicable
- Action, limitation or reason not applicable*NotesShown only when the answers above make it relevant
- Maintenance, inspection and competence records reviewed*Choose one
- Acceptable
- Action needed
- Not checked
- Not applicable
- Action, limitation or reason not applicable*NotesShown only when the answers above make it relevant
Risk decisions
- HazardRepeat for each hazard. Each one asks:
- Hazard and task*Short answer
- Existing controls and evidence*Notes
- Additional control and responsible role*Notes
- Verification and specialist assessment referenceShort answer
Handover
- Use decision*Choose one
- Available within recorded limits
- Restricted use
- Out of service
- Restrictions, isolation and person informed*NotesShown only when the answers above make it relevant
- Repair or follow-up job referenceShort answer
- Condition and defect evidencePhotos
Actions and review
- Are further actions required?*Choose one
- Yes
- No
- Further actionRepeat for each further action. Each one asks:Shown when “Are further actions required?” is “Yes”
- Action and evidence reference*Notes
- Person responsible*Short answer
- Target dateDate
- Action status*Choose one
- Open
- In progress
- Completed
- Completion evidence*NotesShown when “Action status” is “Completed”
- Outstanding limitations and information to pass onNotes
- Record status*Choose one
- Ready for review
- Further work needed
- Work or use stopped
- Reviewed byShort answer
- Review dateDate
- Author signature*Signature
- CheckSigning records the information entered. It does not itself certify legal compliance, remove a limitation or authorise unsafe work.
Scope and responsibility
This is an assessment aid, not a PUWER certificate, machinery conformity assessment, safety-control validation or substitute for specialist statutory examinations.
What a useful entry looks like
Operation, setting, cleaning, maintenance and foreseeable misuse
Describe the actual use, operating modes and foreseeable interventions being assessed. Identify tasks not covered by the review.
Assessment covers normal operation, setup and the recorded cleaning method. Maintenance interventions outside this scope are listed for separate review.
Fictional example of record wording. Use the actual evidence and approved arrangements for your job; this is not a completed report or an instruction to carry out the work.
See it filled in
A completed PUWER equipment assessment report, made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit: every answer, the photos, the guidance that applied and the sign-off, ready to send as a PDF.
PUWER Equipment Assessment FAQs
How should I record “Operation, setting, cleaning, maintenance and foreseeable misuse”?
Describe the actual use, operating modes and foreseeable interventions being assessed. Identify tasks not covered by the review.
Does a conformity mark remove PUWER duties?
No. Assess suitability, use and continuing condition in the workplace.
Can this validate a safety interlock?
No. Record the need for separate competent validation and its evidence reference.
Does it cover lifting examinations?
It can reference them, but does not replace the applicable examination process.
What are the limits of this template?
This is an assessment aid, not a PUWER certificate, machinery conformity assessment, safety-control validation or substitute for specialist statutory examinations.
Can I complete this form on site and share the record?
In the SiteSurvey app the form works offline, with photos and signatures recorded against the questions. Share the completed record as a PDF or a link. Dates and action owners are recorded fields; this form does not send reminders or update other systems.
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