Manufacturing & Engineering UK-wide

Set up and run a safe printing business

Printing is machinery- and chemical-intensive: presses, cutters and finishing lines, and inks, solvents and cleaning agents. Whatever you print, this is the universal spine. It takes you through your core workplace health and safety duties, control of hazardous substances, work equipment safety, manual handling, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.

Guide summary

Assess risks from presses, cutters, inks and solvents. Protect your workers from hazardous substances and machinery. Get employers' liability insurance. Follow this guide in order to build a safe printing business.

  • Risk-assess all machinery, chemicals and manual handling
  • Control exposure to inks, solvents and vapours under COSHH
  • Provide local exhaust ventilation for hazardous fumes
  • Ensure safety guards on all presses and finishing machines
  • Give staff training on safe systems of work
  • Get employers' liability insurance for all employees
  • Keep records of COSHH assessments and health surveillance
  • Review safety measures whenever equipment or chemicals change
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Printing — litho, digital, screen and large-format, packaging and label work, and finishing — is machinery- and chemical-intensive. The duties in this guide apply to running the print works and employing people, whatever you print. Get this spine in place first, then layer the solvents, inks and emissions rules on top if they apply to you.

Health and safety law here is largely devolved. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator in Great Britain and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) in Northern Ireland. The underlying duties are equivalent across the UK. Work through the sections below in order.

A. Meet your general health and safety duty

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the foundation. You must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of your employees and of anyone else affected by your work. In a print works that means risk-assessing the presses and finishing machinery, the inks and solvents, noise and material handling, providing safe systems of work, and training and supervising your people.

B. Control exposure to hazardous substances (COSHH)

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) require you to assess, then prevent or adequately control, exposure to hazardous substances. In printing that means solvent-based inks and coatings, wash-up and blanket-cleaning solvents, isopropyl alcohol and fountain additives, UV-curable inks and the mists and vapours they give off. Provide engineering controls — local exhaust ventilation — and health surveillance where the regulations require it. In Northern Ireland the equivalent COSHH (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003 apply.

C. Keep your work equipment safe (PUWER)

Your machinery — printing presses, guillotines and cutters, folders, binders and finishing lines — must be suitable, properly maintained, inspected and adequately safeguarded under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. In-running nips on presses, guillotine guarding and interlocks, and safe isolation for cleaning, washing-up and make-ready are recurring HSE enforcement themes in printing.

D. Manage manual handling

Moving reels and pallets of paper and board, ink drums and finished work is routine, so the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 apply. Avoid hazardous manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable. Where you cannot, assess the risk and reduce it — through lifting equipment, better layout and safe systems of work.

E. Manage fire safety

Paper, board, solvents and solvent-soaked rags give printing an elevated fire load. The responsible person must carry out a fire risk assessment and maintain fire-safety arrangements, including safe storage and disposal of solvents and oily rags. The duty is devolved. In England and Wales it is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. In Scotland it is the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. In Northern Ireland it is the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.

F. Hold employers' liability insurance

As soon as you employ anyone, you must hold employers' liability compulsory insurance — normally at least £5 million of cover — and display or make available the certificate. This is a legal requirement across Great Britain, with an equivalent duty in Northern Ireland.

G. Meet your equality duties

As an employer you must not discriminate against, harass or victimise people because of a protected characteristic. In Great Britain this is governed by the Equality Act 2010. In Northern Ireland separate equality legislation applies, enforced by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

H. Handle personal data lawfully

If you process personal data — about staff, customers or suppliers, and including any customer artwork or mailing data you hold — you must comply with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and in most cases pay the data protection fee to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). This applies UK-wide.

  1. 1

    1. Write your health and safety risk assessments

    Assess your presses, finishing machinery, inks and solvents, noise and handling, and put safe systems of work, training and supervision in place under HASAWA 1974.

  2. 2

    2. Put COSHH controls in for your inks and solvents

    Assess solvent-based inks, wash-up solvents, IPA and UV inks. Fit local exhaust ventilation and arrange health surveillance where COSHH requires it.

  3. 3

    3. Bring work equipment into a PUWER regime

    Make sure presses, guillotines and finishing machinery are guarded and interlocked, maintained, inspected and safely isolated for cleaning and make-ready.

  4. 4

    4. Control manual handling and carry out your fire risk assessment

    Reduce hazardous handling of paper reels, pallets and ink drums. Assess fire risk from paper, solvents and oily rags under the regime for your nation.

  5. 5

    5. Take out employers' liability insurance and register with the ICO

    Arrange at least £5 million of cover before anyone starts work, and pay the data protection fee unless you are exempt.

What to do next

This spine covers the duties every print works shares. On top of it, if you use solvent-based inks and chemicals:

Official sources

Authoritative health and safety and data-protection guidance.