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📋 Toolbox Talk  ·  Health & Safety

Machinery Guarding & Isolation:
Never Trust a Switch

PUWER 1998 — guards, safe isolation, lockout and tagout, stored energy and why 'I only turned it off' is how people lose hands.

✅ Verified August 2026📚 HSE · PUWER 1998🇬🇧 Applies across the UKukworkrights.co.uk
The risk

How machinery injuries happen

  • The majority of serious machinery injuries happen during cleaning, clearing blockages, setting and maintenance — not normal running
  • Common injuries are amputations, crush injuries, entanglement and degloving
  • Guards get removed for speed and then never replaced
  • Interlocks get defeated with tape, magnets or spare keys because they slow the job down
  • 'It was switched off' is not isolation — someone else can switch it back on
  • Stored energy in springs, hydraulics, compressed air, raised loads and capacitors can move machinery after power is removed
  • Loose clothing, gloves, jewellery and long hair are a serious entanglement risk near rotating parts

⚠ Most amputations happen during cleaning

The moment of highest risk is when the guard is off and the machine is being cleared. That is exactly when isolation matters most and is most often skipped for speed.
The law

Guarding and safe isolation

  • PUWER reg. 11 requires effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts — fixed guards first, then interlocked guards, then other protection devices
  • PUWER reg. 19 requires equipment to be fitted with clearly identifiable and accessible means of isolation
  • Safe isolation means isolate, lock off, tag, prove dead and release stored energy
  • Each person working on the machine applies their own lock — a single shared lock is not safe isolation
  • Only reconnect when every lock is removed by its owner and the machine has been checked clear
  • Guards must be maintained — a guard that no longer works is not a guard
  • Defeating a guard or interlock is an offence under s.8 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Your lock, your key, your life

Lockout works because only the person inside the machine can release their own lock. If someone else holds a spare key, the system protects nobody.
Your rights

What you can expect

  • Machinery that is properly guarded and maintained — this is the employer's duty
  • Training and instruction on the equipment before you use it, including on isolation
  • Locks and tags provided where isolation is required
  • Enough time to isolate properly rather than being pushed to work live
  • To refuse to work on unguarded machinery where you reasonably believe there is serious and imminent danger — Employment Rights Act 1996 s.44 and s.100
  • To report a defeated guard without detriment, and to report it to HSE on 0300 003 1747 if nothing is done

Production pressure is not a defence

If the only way to hit the target is to work with the guard off, the target is wrong. Say so in writing — that record protects you and forces the issue.
Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Is it illegal to remove a machine guard?
Section 8 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 makes it an offence to intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided for health and safety, which includes guards and interlocks. Guards may only be removed under a controlled procedure with the machine safely isolated.
Isn't switching the machine off enough?
No. A switch can be operated by someone else, and it does not deal with stored energy in hydraulics, springs, compressed air or raised parts. Safe isolation means isolating, locking off with your own lock, tagging, proving dead and releasing stored energy.
What if I'm told to work with the guard removed?
You are protected from dismissal and detriment for refusing work you reasonably believe is seriously and imminently dangerous. Raise it in writing with your supervisor. If it continues, HSE can be contacted on 0300 003 1747, and being punished for raising it is unlawful.
For whoever runs this talk

Delivery notes & attendance record

Suggested length: 10–15 minutes. A toolbox talk is a short briefing on one hazard, given by a supervisor to the crew doing the work.

Before you start

The two failure modes to focus on are guards defeated for speed, and isolation that relies on a switch someone else can flip. Ask whether anyone has ever cleared a blockage without isolating — most people have.

Questions to ask the team
  1. Has anyone ever cleared a jam without isolating the machine? What made that feel necessary?
  2. Are any guards on our machines removed, taped or bypassed right now?
  3. Who holds the locks, and could someone else energise the machine while you're inside it?
  4. What stored energy is there after isolation — springs, air, hydraulics, gravity, capacitors?
The law behind this talk

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (regs. 11 and 19 — dangerous parts and isolation); Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 reg. 12; Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.2

Employers must give workers comprehensible information, instruction and training on the risks they face — Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.2(2)(c) and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 reg. 10. Keep the record below as evidence that you did.

Attendance record
TopicMachinery Guarding & Isolation: Never Trust a Switch
Date
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Use the Print handout button to print this record. General guidance only, not legal advice. This toolbox talk is generic material and is not a substitute for a suitable and sufficient risk assessment by a competent person. Employers remain responsible for their duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Free H&S guidance

Machinery Guarding & Isolation
free guidance

Get plain-English guidance on your rights and your employer's legal duties.

HSE Infoline
0300 003 1747
hse.gov.uk
ACAS
0300 123 1100
acas.org.uk
Citizens Advice
0800 144 8848
citizensadvice.org.uk
UK Work Rights
Machinery Guarding & Isolation
ukworkrights.co.uk/toolbox-machinery.html

General guidance only — not legal advice · Verified August 2026 · © UK Work Rights Ltd · Company No. 17228507 · ICO registered · Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ  ·  hello@ukworkrights.co.uk
Directed and published by Matt Thompson, founder
Content is produced with AI assistance and checked against primary sources including GOV.UK, ACAS and legislation.gov.uk before publication.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.