Did you know, as a business owner you have a legal obligation towards roller shutter safety and legislation under ‘section 5’ of the Workplace Health, Safety & Welfare Regulations 1992 to keep your roller shutter doors adequately maintained and free from harm?
Not only that, you have obligations under the PUWER regulations and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Here’s what they say.
Workplace Health, Safety & Welfare Regulations 1992
Regulation 5. Maintenance of workplace, and of equipment, devices and systems.
“The workplace and the equipment, devices and systems to which this regulation applies shall be maintained (including cleaned as appropriate) in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.“
“Where appropriate, the equipment, devices and systems to which this regulation applies shall be subject to a suitable system of maintenance.“
“Equipment that could fail and put workers at serious risk should be properly maintained and checked at regular intervals, as appropriate, by inspection, testing, adjustment, lubrication, repair and cleaning.“
The above are extracts from the full version which can be downloaded HERE, but the regulation gives detailed information on what it applies to including powered access doors, which also includes roller shutters.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Extract. “Where necessary in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons, the responsible person must ensure that the premises and any facilities, equipment and devices provided are subject to a suitable system of maintenance and are maintained in an efficient state and in efficient working order and in good repair. This applies to any door provided as a fire exit, along an escape route or which provides fire containment or compartmentation.”
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
These Regulations, often abbreviated to PUWER, place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment. PUWER also places responsibilities on businesses and organisations whose employees use work equipment, whether owned by them or not
PUWER requires that equipment provided for use at work is:
- suitable for the intended use.
- safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and inspected to ensure it is correctly installed and does not subsequently deteriorate.
- used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training.
- accompanied by suitable health and safety measures, such as protective devices and controls. These will normally include guarding, emergency stop devices, adequate means of isolation from sources of energy, clearly visible markings and warning devices.
How does the law define work equipment under PUWER?
Work equipment is any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work (whether exclusively or not). This includes equipment which employees provide for their own use at work. The scope of work equipment is therefore extremely wide. The use of work equipment is also very widely interpreted and ‘…means any activity involving work equipment and includes starting, stopping, programming, setting, transporting, repairing, modifying, maintaining, servicing and cleaning’..
If your business uses work equipment (and this can apply to manual doors and roller shutters as well as powered equipment, you must:
- ensure work equipment is only used for suitable purposes
- ensure work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair
- where a machine has a maintenance log, keep this up to date
Again, this is an extract from the regulations. The full text can be read on the HSE website HERE.
As you can see, maintaining roller shutters isn’t something to be left to chance or ‘having them looked at’ when things go wrong. There are legal obligations involved to keep people safe from harm that span different sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations)
A question that often crops up is whether powered roller shutter doors or sectional doors fall under the requirement of the LOLER regulations.
While it is true that powered shutter doors have the potential to easily lift a person off the ground, they are not designed with the function of lifting anybody or anything.
LOLER applies to equipment that is specifically designed for the purpose of lifting, not something that has the capability of lifting.
Therefore, roller shutters doors do not fall under the requirements of LOLER.
Shopfront Group Can Help
While all this may sound very confusing, or another thing to think about, a quick call to the Shopfront Group maintenance department can relieve you of the burden of complying with this legislation.
As well as fabricating and installing roller shutters, our maintenance department also carry out repairs, planned maintenance and inspections.
You can contact the Shopfront Group on 0161 884 0131.
Or visit the maintenance website for more information. https://sfgmaintain.co.uk