Guide summary

Set up a safe wood products factory by following health and safety rules and controlling wood dust. Then meet market rules: check your timber is legal, mark construction products if you make them, limit formaldehyde, treat wood packaging for export, and follow product safety laws. Use the compliance checklist to confirm you have done everything before you sell.

Control wood dust with COSHH and follow HASAWA safety duties
Set up a safe factory using the 'run a safe wood-products factory' guide
Do timber due diligence to prove your wood is legally sourced
Mark construction products if you make them for buildings
Limit formaldehyde in your wood products to legal levels
Treat solid wood packaging with heat and mark it for export (ISPM 15)
Use the compliance checklist before you sell your products
Face unlimited fines and up to 2 years in prison for safety breaches

Wood-products manufacturing is machinery- and dust-intensive, with wood dust a particular concern. 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.

Wood products also carry their own market rules — legal timber sourcing, construction-products marking, formaldehyde limits, general product safety, and treatment and marking for wood packaging that travels abroad.

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA)

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 - primary UK workplace health and safety legislation establishing employer and employee duties. Pure data reference.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA 1974) is the primary legislation governing workplace health and safety in the United Kingdom. It establishes the legal framework for protecting the health, safety and welfare of people at work and those affected by work activities.

Legal status: Primary legislation - principal UK health and safety statute
Royal Assent: 31 July 1974
Came into force: 1 April 1975 (in stages)
Geographic scope: Great Britain (separate legislation applies in Northern Ireland)
Applies to: All employers, employees, self-employed persons, and those who control work premises
Primary duty (Section 2): Employers must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees
Duty to non-employees (Section 3): Employers must protect persons not in their employment (contractors, visitors, public) who may be affected by work activities
Employee duties (Sections 7-8): Employees must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others, cooperate with employers, and not misuse safety equipment
Enforcement authority: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities
Maximum penalties (post-2008 amendments): Unlimited fines in Crown Court; imprisonment up to 2 years for individuals; up to 12 months and/or an unlimited fine in Magistrates' Court in England and Wales (12-month custody powers from 18 November 2024; fines unlimited since March 2015 under LASPO 2012, s.85)
Referenced by regulators: Cited in 31 regulatory documents in the ORDS (Office for Regulatory Delivery and Simplification) dataset
Secondary regulations: Enables creation of health and safety regulations (e.g. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, COSHH, Manual Handling)

Reasonably practicable: The Act uses the term "so far as is reasonably practicable" throughout. This means employers must balance the level of risk against the time, trouble and cost of controlling it. However, the law is weighted in favour of health and safety - employers must demonstrate that control measures would be grossly disproportionate to the risk before they can be considered not reasonably practicable.

Self-employed persons: The Act also places duties on self-employed persons to protect their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their work activities.

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (legislation.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab)

HSE - Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 guidance (opens in a new tab)

What you need to do

Run a safe plant and employ people

Whatever you make, start with the universal spine. Follow "Set up and run a safe wood-products factory" for your health and safety, wood-dust COSHH controls, work equipment, manual handling, fire safety, insurance, equality, data protection and environmental-permit duties.
Place wood and wood products on the market

Meet timber due diligence, construction-products marking, formaldehyde limits, general product safety, and — if you make solid-wood packaging for export — ISPM 15 heat treatment and marking. Follow "Place wood and wood products on the market".
Confirm you have covered everything

Finish with the wood-products manufacturer compliance checklist to confirm your obligations are met before you sell.

Legal basis

Primary legislation and key regulations

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Primary 1974 · UK-wide

Read it on legislation.gov.uk legislation.gov.uk

Official guidance

HSE: woodworking (opens in a new tab)

HSE

GOV.UK: regulations: timber and timber products (UKTR) (opens in a new tab)

OPSS

Which wood products manufacturing regulations apply to your business

What you need to do

Run a safe plant and employ people

Place wood and wood products on the market

Confirm you have covered everything

Legal basis

Official guidance

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