PUWER training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online PUWER certificate

Your employer decides the work equipment training each role needs, guided by its risk assessment. Regulation 9 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 requires everyone who uses, supervises or manages the use of work equipment to have adequate training, and HSE's Approved Code of Practice L22 explains how. When an employer checks a certificate, they usually look for:

• Content that follows the law and HSE guidance. PUWER 1998 in England, Wales and Scotland, the equivalent 1999 regulations in Northern Ireland, the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Management Regulations and the Approved Code of Practice L22.
• A clear, verifiable record. The course name, hours of learning and completion date, with a way to confirm the certificate.
• The essentials of safe work equipment. What PUWER covers, suitability, maintenance and inspection, guards and controls, information and training, and the extra rules for mobile work equipment.
• A refresh date. Equipment, tasks and people change, so a refresh date matters.

Lift College's certificate does each of these. It records PUWER Training, 1.5 hours of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 3 years on, with a unique certificate number and a verification link. Using a particular machine, forklift or vehicle also needs practical training on that equipment from your employer, the manufacturer or a specialist provider, and for some equipment a certificate of competence that your employer will specify.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 4 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. What PUWER covers and who is responsible. What work equipment means under the regulations, from hand tools and ladders to machinery and vehicles. Duties on employers, the self employed and anyone who controls equipment or the way it is used. How PUWER sits alongside the Health and Safety at Work Act and the management regulations.
2. Suitable, maintained and inspected. Choosing equipment that is suitable for the task, the environment and the people using it. Keeping equipment in an efficient state and good repair, maintenance logs, when a formal inspection is needed, what inspectors look for and the records to keep. Conformity marking and manufacturer instructions.
3. Guards, protection and controls. Preventing access to dangerous parts using fixed guards, interlocks, adjustable guards and protection devices. Controls that are clearly marked and safe to use, start, stop and emergency stop devices, isolating equipment from energy, stability, lighting, markings and warnings.
4. Information, training and mobile work equipment. The information, instruction and training users and supervisors must have. The extra requirements for mobile work equipment, including rollover and falling object protection, carrying people, speed, visibility and self propelled equipment. Reporting defects and taking equipment out of use.

By the end you can explain what PUWER covers and who holds the duties, identify the work equipment in your workplace from hand tools to mobile plant, check that equipment is suitable for the task, the conditions and the people using it, recognise when equipment needs maintenance or inspection and what records to keep, explain the hierarchy for guarding dangerous parts, describe what the regulations require of controls, stop devices, isolation, lighting and markings, apply the extra rules for mobile work equipment, and recognise when equipment should be reported and taken out of use.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) (England, Wales and Scotland). Apply to employers, the self employed and anyone who controls work equipment or how it is used. Equipment must be suitable, maintained in a safe condition, inspected where needed, and used only by people who have had adequate information, instruction and training. Dangerous parts must be guarded and controls must be safe. Northern Ireland has equivalent rules in the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999.
• HSE Approved Code of Practice L22: Safe use of work equipment (Great Britain). The Approved Code of Practice and guidance on PUWER. It explains what each regulation means in practice, from choosing suitable equipment to guarding, controls and mobile equipment. Following it is not compulsory, but it has special legal status: if you are prosecuted and did not follow it, you must show you complied in another way.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2 (England, Wales and Scotland). Employers must provide and maintain plant and systems of work that are safe, and give the information, instruction, training and supervision needed to keep employees safe, so far as is reasonably practicable. Northern Ireland has the same duty in the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (England, Wales and Scotland). Employers must carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, which is how the hazards from work equipment are identified and the PUWER controls decided. Employers must also give employees health and safety training when they are recruited and when exposed to new or changed risks, including new equipment. Northern Ireland has equivalent regulations from 2000.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 27 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College the £19.99 is the full price for one learner, with nothing added at checkout, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

PUWER Training is for supervisors, managers, machine operators, maintenance and facilities staff, and anyone who buys or hires work equipment in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for you if:

• you supervise or manage people who use machinery, tools or vehicles at work
• you operate work equipment and want to understand the checks that keep you safe
• you maintain, inspect or hire out equipment and need to know what the regulations require
• you run a small business, workshop, farm, warehouse or site and are responsible for the equipment on it
• you are writing risk assessments or safe systems of work that involve equipment

If your equipment lifts loads or people, see our LOLER training guide. For writing the risk assessments behind PUWER, see our risk assessment guide, and for ladders and access equipment our working at height guide. See every course on the health and safety courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Open a free organisation account: every course is £16.99, and you can pay by card or invoice with your PO.

Enrol on PUWER Training for £19.99 and start module 1 the moment you pay. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.