Industrial Tags
Working in the manufacturing or horticultural sectors requires a company to be compliant with a variety of health and safety regulations. Two such regulations came into being in 1998 to legislate for the provision and use of work equipment (PUWER) and the provision of lifting operation and lifting equipment (LOLER). Both legislations require equipment to be assessed for risk and integrity and be properly identified as having gone through stringent safety checks. To comply with these legislations, and many more, industrial tags offer the optimum visual indicators to your employees and health and safety officers that your business is safe and compliant.
Work equipment industrial safety tags
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) has been in force since 5th December 1998 after an update to the original 1992 version. The regulations require anybody using work equipment to carry out an assessment of risk to ensure it is suitable for the task its intended for without placing the user, or users, in any danger.
PUWER covers the use of any work apparatus, appliance, installation or machinery used at work and requires that a health and safety inspection is carried out on the equipment after installation, before putting into service for the first time, after assembly or after relocation. The regulations also state that if equipment has been exposed to conditions which cause it to deteriorate (and then may lead to hazardous situations when operating), the equipment should be safety checked first. There should also be checks made at regular intervals and all inspections must be recorded.
To ensure that any equipment in your business is safety compliant follow these simple safety steps:
1.Check all your equipment and locate any possible hazards.
2.Ask yourself who could be injured by this equipment (staff, clients, public) and how?
3.Consider whether further safety precautions need to be put in place.
4.Record your risk assessments and safety checks.
5.Review your risk assessments regularly and revise them if circumstances change.
By recording your assessments and checks you’ll have a documented history of safety for all equipment used by your business. You should provide operators with a visual identification that equipment within your business is compliant and make sure all scheduled inspections are also displayed.
The Easitag is an industrial safety tag which can be printed with a considerable amount of data to display the operational status of equipment. A weather-proof marker can be used for any information written and added in situ while laser-etched permanent printing can display test dates or serial numbers that you don’t want altered. The tags are tamper-proof and available in a range of colour options. Company logos are also printable on the tag for further identification.
Lifting equipment industrial safety tags
The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) came into force on the same date as the work equipment regulations (December 5th 1998). LOLER is for equipment identified as used for lifting or lowering of loads and also covers any attachments that anchor, fix or support that equipment.
There’s a wide range of equipment covered by LOLER but if your business uses cranes, hoists, lifts, forklifts, mobile work/inspection platforms then you’ll need to be compliant with the regulations. You will need to carry out a risk assessment before any lifting operations take place and make sure the work is supervised by a competent person.
Your lifting equipment must:
- Be sufficiently strong, stable and suitable for its intended use.
- Have appropriate attachments such as pallets and lifting points.
- Prevent injury to persons from falls or strikes through correct installation and positioning.
- Have all anchors, fixings and supports inspected before each use and examined every 12 months with clear labels at each point displaying inspection dates.
- Be clearly identified with the appropriate safety information for safe working loads, and inspection dates.
- Be inspected at regular intervals by a competent person (12 months for all equipment, every 6 months for equipment used to lift people).
With the last few points in mind, you’ll need an effective and strong visual means of displaying such information. Lifting equipment safety tags and lifting operation tags provide a tough and durable plastic identifier for all your equipment’s safety information and inspection dates.