The need to provide safe for use work equipment along with adequate training on how to operate and maintain the equipment is the bedrock of workplace safety. 

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998 impose specific legal duties on companies to provide, inspect, maintain and operate safe work equipment.PUWER stipulates that equipment provided for use at work is:

• Suitable and safe for intended use
• Maintained in a safe condition and inspected to ensure it remains safe to use
• Operated by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training

As a result, employers must ensure that:

• Measures are in place to minimise risks
• Only fully trained personnel are allowed to use equipment where there is a specific risk
• Work equipment provided is suitable, maintained and used without risks

Introduction of The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has further emphasised the need for companies and individuals to keep their health and safety management systems under review, in particular the way in which their activities are managed by senior management. 

With this in mind Good to Go Safety has been designed to help employers meet their obligations under PUWER and to help work towards providing a safer work environment. Graham Halliday, product manager, explains: “We wanted to offer a solution that would provide: essential pre-use equipment checks; records of all inspections for management and maintenance programmes and a visual indication on the equipment that a check had been carried out; and flexibility in terms of frequency of inspections.”

It was also important that the Safe Equipment Management System (SEMS) would be easy for a company to implement and understand in order to maximise employee buy-in to the scheme, encouraging operatives to take ownership for their own safety. 

“We think that Good to Go Safety manages to – quite literally – tick all the boxes.” 

A tag (universal in design, allowing attachment to all equipment types) is attached and immediately displays a Do Not Use message until such time that a check has been completed; an equipment specific checklist is used to carry out the inspection, with a duplicate carbon copy automatically created and retained as part of an audit trail; the completed checklist is signed and dated before being placed inside the tag to clearly indicate when it is Good to Go (a tamper evident seal can also be fitted to deter unauthorised removal or alteration of the insert).

Over the past 12 months we have been working hard behind the scenes on product improvements, developing a new e-commerce website and producing several new additions to the range.

It is no longer acceptable to assume that equipment is in good working order ‘because it worked fine yesterday’. Assumption and complacency can be the biggest danger when it comes to workplace equipment (especially in areas with multiple shift rotations). A good example is in a warehouse with pallet racking and forklift trucks (FLT) where the potential for a rack collision is relatively high, but the likelihood of a driver volunteering to his manager that he has hit a racking upright often relatively low. A daily pre-use check of the FLT or racking is likely to identify any damage but how many companies routinely carry out these inspections? Surprisingly few when you consider the devastation that a racking failure can cause.

Preventative action is key to safety. By introducing proactive inspection regimes, such as Good to Go Safety, not only do you reduce the potential for accidents but you can also save money by identifying faults early (before they develop into a costly repair). Being proactive rather than reactive with equipment management will ensure that you, your equipment and employees are always “good to go”.

Available as individual components or as kits providing everything you need for a year of daily or weekly inspections, systems are currently available for the following equipment types: forklifts, ladder/steps, scaffold tower, podium steps, MEWP (scissor lift/cherry picker), pallet racking, pallet truck, scaffolding, harness, fleet vehicles and there is also an option to create your own checklist.