Does gym equipment need a PUWER inspection?
Yes - If you provide gym equipment for staff to use, PUWER requires you to keep it in good repair (Regulation 5) and to have it inspected where it could deteriorate dangerously (Regulation 6). No law sets a fixed interval, so your risk assessment decides. If members use it too, your duty to them comes from the Health and Safety at Work Act.
A gym floor is hard on equipment. A treadmill belt runs for hours a day, a cable takes a tug every few seconds, and a bench gets dropped on, sat on and leaned against. Most of it wears out slowly and gives plenty of warning, which is exactly why a regular inspection finds things before a member does.
Who has to comply?
HSE says PUWER duties fall on employers, the relevant self-employed and anyone who has control of work equipment. That covers a lot more than commercial gyms:
staff gyms in offices, factories and warehouses
gyms in hotels and care homes
school, college and academy gyms
residents’ gyms in blocks of flats, where the managing agent or landlord usually controls the equipment
Members and guests who aren’t employees are covered by section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, which HSE says includes the public. The checks are the same either way, because you can’t keep a machine safe for staff and unsafe for members.
What PUWER asks of you
Regulation 4: the equipment must be suitable for where and how it’s used.
Regulation 5: it must be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, and any maintenance log kept up to date.
Regulation 6: it must be inspected where its safety depends on the installation, at suitable intervals where it can deteriorate dangerously, and after exceptional circumstances such as serious damage or a major modification.
Regulations 8 and 9: people using it need suitable information, instruction and training.
HSE is clear that the frequency and scope of inspection come from risk assessment and the manufacturer’s recommendations, and that the results should be recorded and kept at least until the next inspection.
What gets checked on each type of equipment
Equipment | What goes wrong | What the inspection looks at |
Treadmills | Worn belts and decks, failed emergency stops, loose handrails | Emergency stop and safety key, belt tracking and wear, guards, handrail fixings, electrical condition |
Bikes, cross trainers and rowers | Worn pedals and cranks, loose seats, pinch points | Pedal and crank wear, seat and handlebar locking, chains and belts, guards |
Cable and weight stack machines | Frayed cables, worn pulleys, missing pins | Cable condition, pulleys, guide rods, pins and selectors, frame welds |
Racks, benches and plate-loaded machines | Cracked welds, damaged safety arms, bolts working loose | Welds, J-hooks and safety arms, pins, bolts, upholstery, floor fixings |
Dumbbells, bars and plates | Loose dumbbell heads, cracked plates, bent bars | Fixings on dumbbells, plate condition, bar straightness, collars |
Functional rigs and pull-up frames | Loose wall or ceiling fixings, worn straps | Fixings to the structure, welds, strap and attachment wear |
Daily checks, servicing and independent inspection
These three do different jobs, and a good gym uses all of them:
Daily: staff walk the floor before opening, test emergency stops and take anything faulty out of use straight away.
Servicing: a competent engineer services the equipment to the manufacturer’s schedule. An annual service is common practice.
Independent inspection: a competent person who doesn’t service the equipment checks that the servicing and daily checks are keeping it safe. PUWER doesn’t require independence here, but a second pair of eyes catches what a familiar one misses.
Home-rated kit in a staff gym
Many manufacturers rate equipment for either home or commercial use. Home-rated kit used by lots of people wears faster, and it can affect your warranty. Check the rating plate before you put it on a shared gym floor.
When gym equipment is LOLER equipment too
A pool hoist or an accessible changing-room hoist lifts people, so it’s lifting equipment under LOLER and needs a thorough examination every 6 months. Our guide to how often a hoist should be inspected covers it.
Keep a register
Keep a list of every machine, with make, model, serial number, location and install date. Add the service history, faults reported, equipment taken out of use and the result of each inspection. If you hire equipment in or lend it out, it should carry evidence of its last inspection.
Gym equipment inspections across the Midlands
We inspect gym equipment in staff gyms, hotels, care homes, schools and residents’ gyms across Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Loughborough and Lincoln, and we travel anywhere in the UK. Every inspection is carried out and signed by me, Ryan Leavesley MSOE MBES, an engineer surveyor with 14 years’ experience. We don’t sell, install or service gym equipment, so we’re never checking our own work. You get a written report for each item, and once we’ve agreed a price, it stays fixed for all your ongoing inspections.
If you’ve got lifts, hoists or a loading bay on the same site, we can do the lot in one visit. See our PUWER inspection page and how often you need a PUWER inspection. Tell us how many machines you have and we’ll come back with a fixed quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is gym equipment covered by PUWER?
Yes, where it is provided for use at work. PUWER duties fall on employers, the self-employed and anyone in control of work equipment, so a staff gym, a hotel or school gym, or a commercial gym with employees all count. Members who are not employees are protected by the general duties in section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Is annual servicing a legal requirement for gym equipment?
No law sets a fixed interval. PUWER requires equipment to be kept in good repair (Regulation 5) and inspected where deterioration could make it dangerous (Regulation 6), and your risk assessment decides how often. An annual service by a competent engineer, plus the manufacturer’s own schedule, is the common standard in the industry.
Who is responsible for gym equipment in a school, hotel or block of flats?
Whoever controls the equipment and the premises: usually the employer, the school or trust, the hotel operator, or the managing agent or landlord for a residents’ gym. If you are not sure, check your lease, contract or management agreement and agree it in writing.
What records do I need to keep?
Keep a register of every machine, with make, model, serial number, location and install date, plus the service history, faults reported, equipment taken out of use and the result of each inspection. HSE says inspection records should be kept at least until the next inspection.
Can the company that services our gym equipment also inspect it?
PUWER does not require the inspector to be independent, so the servicing engineer can check their own work. An independent inspection gives you a second opinion on whether the servicing has kept the equipment safe, and it is a useful extra check on a busy gym floor.
Does home-use gym equipment count if we put it in a staff gym?
Yes. Once you provide it for use at work, PUWER applies. Many manufacturers rate equipment for either home or commercial use, and home-rated kit that a lot of people use wears faster, so check the rating plate and the warranty terms.
Do pool hoists and accessible changing-room hoists need a different inspection?
Yes. A hoist that lifts people is lifting equipment, so it needs a LOLER thorough examination every 6 months as well as the PUWER maintenance and inspection that applies to all work equipment.
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