Machinery and equipment manufacturing — engines, turbines, pumps, compressors, bearings, lifting gear, agricultural machinery, machine tools and industrial plant — is process-intensive and heavily regulated. The workplace health and safety duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 apply to you. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland. What sets this sector apart is the weight of product-conformity law: almost everything you make must meet a conformity or type-approval regime before you can place it on the market.
What you need to do
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Run a safe factory and employ people
Whatever you make, start with the universal spine. Follow "Set up and run a safe machinery factory" for your health and safety, COSHH controls, work equipment, manual handling, fire safety, insurance, equality and data protection duties.
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Place your machinery and equipment on the market
Conformity and type approval for what you make — machinery safety, electromagnetic compatibility, pressure equipment and simple pressure vessels, lifts, agricultural and forestry vehicles, non-road mobile machinery engines, general product safety, and food-contact materials for food-processing machinery. Follow "Place machinery and equipment on the market".
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Confirm you have covered everything
Finish with the machinery and equipment manufacturer compliance checklist to confirm your obligations are met before you sell.
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations
Read it on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab) legislation.gov.uk