Sector
Guarded machinery, controlled substances, manageable noise and a workforce that goes home in one piece — that's what good manufacturing safety looks like. From PUWER and COSHH to LEV, noise and ISO 45001 certification, we keep your plant compliant and your production moving, in plain English.
The landscape
Manufacturing layers specific, well-regulated risks on top of the general duties in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Moving machinery, hazardous substances, noise and repetitive handling are inherent to the work — which is exactly why the HSE expects them designed out, guarded, extracted and measured. These are the regulations that govern the factory floor.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 require equipment that's suitable, maintained and properly guarded — with fixed guards, interlocks and safe systems of work. Contact with moving machinery is still a leading cause of serious injury and amputation in UK factories.
Solvents, coolants, dusts and fumes all fall under COSHH 2002. That means assessment, exposure control and — where local exhaust ventilation is fitted — a thorough examination and test at least every 14 months to prove the LEV is actually doing its job.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 set action values at 80 and 85 dB(A). Above them you owe noise assessments, control measures, hearing protection zones and health surveillance — because noise-induced hearing loss is permanent and entirely preventable.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and repetitive line work drive musculoskeletal disorders — the most common cause of lost-time absence in manufacturing. We assess the lifts, the reaches and the repetition, then design the strain out.
More and more OEMs and tier-one buyers now expect ISO 45001 certification from their supply chain. We build the occupational health & safety management system that wins the contract — and stands up to the certification body's audit.
Amputations, fractures and over-seven-day injuries are reportable under RIDDOR 2013, and factories sit firmly on the HSE's inspection radar. Get the controls right and you stay off it — get them wrong and an improvement notice can stop the line.
How we help
Dominic Gibbons CMIOSH brings Chartered, hands-on experience to the factory floor — the kind that knows a guard interlock from a light curtain and a COSHH assessment from a safety data sheet. Bring us in as your competent person and you get expert advice that respects your production targets as well as your legal duties. We fix the risk without stopping the throughput.
PUWER guarding reviews and substance-by-substance COSHH assessments that turn into controls operators will actually use.
Guidance on local exhaust ventilation and noise control — from survey strategy and hearing protection zones to keeping your LEV examinations on schedule.
Qualitative RPE face fit programmes under COSHH 2002, plus calm root-cause investigation when something does go wrong on the floor.
What's included
From a single machinery assessment to a fully certified ISO 45001 system, we slot in wherever you need it — pick one piece or hand us the lot.
PUWER 1998 guarding and safe-system-of-work assessments across your equipment — fixed guards, interlocks, emergency stops and isolation.
Substance-by-substance COSHH 2002 assessments with workplace exposure limits, control measures and a register your team can follow.
Local exhaust ventilation strategy and 14-month examination scheduling, plus Control of Noise at Work 2005 surveys and hearing protection zones.
Qualitative RPE face fit testing for dust, fume and solvent exposure under COSHH 2002 — so masks genuinely seal and protect.
Build and embed an ISO 45001 occupational H&S management system — gap analysis, documentation and readiness for certification.
Independent internal audits against ISO 45001 — finding nonconformities and fixing them long before the external auditor walks in.
Root-cause investigation when something goes wrong — RIDDOR 2013 reporting handled and lessons embedded so it doesn't recur.
Your named, Chartered competent person under MHSWR 1999 — on call for the day-to-day questions that keep production safe and legal.
How it works
No 200-page binder nobody reads. We get under the skin of your process, build the controls that fit it, and keep them living through audit and beyond — without stopping the line.
We walk the floor, map the real hazards — guarding, substances, noise, handling — and benchmark you against PUWER, COSHH and the Noise Regs.
We write the machinery and COSHH risk assessments, set the LEV and noise regime, and lay out the route to ISO 45001 certification.
We brief the operators, run internal audits, keep the controls live and stay on the phone — so compliance sticks and the line keeps moving.
A guard isn't there to pass an audit — it's there so an operator keeps all ten fingers. Get the controls right on the floor and the certificate looks after itself.Dominic Gibbons, CMIOSH
Related
The legislation and standards that shape manufacturing compliance — and the services that keep you on top of them.
Got a plant to cover?
Whether you need machinery and COSHH assessments, LEV and noise advice or a full route to ISO 45001, tell us about your operation and we'll get straight to it.
