Many employers are unaware that
carrying out regular PUWER
inspections may not be enough to
meet their legal obligations in respect
of machinery safety, warns Gary
Trewhitt of Safety Systems
Technology. Special requirements
apply to machines that have electrosensitive
protective equipment
(ESPE) such as light curtains, and
these requirements often fall outside
the scope of routine PUWER
inspections.

For guidance, the HSE has
published HSG180, Application of
electro-sensitive equipment using light
curtains and light beam devices to
machinery. The section that deals
with inspection and test states in
paragraph 118 that, ‘installations
using ESPE should be inspected at
suitable intervals’. In paragraph 124,
it explains that the recommended
maximum interval between each
periodic inspection and test is six
months for type 4 ESPE and 12
months for type 2 ESPE, and that
this will depend on the equipment it
is fitted to and the risk as a whole.

There are multiple factors that
determine how often ESPE should be
inspected and tested; in many cases,
this will be more often than routine
PUWER assessments are carried out.

Inspection and testing must be
carried out by a person with
appropriate competence.

Safety Systems Technology offers a
standalone ESPE periodic inspection
and test service that can be tailored
to the requirements of individual
sites. It follows the guidance in
HSG180 and includes inspection of
the ESPE to that ensure that it is the
correct distance from the danger zone,
ensuring safeguards are in place to
prevent access to the danger zone
from directions not covered by the
ESPE, testing the response time and
detection capability of the ESPE
installation, inspecting any stopping
performance monitor that may be
fitted, and testing primary machine
control elements to ensure correct
functioning.