CalmComplianceRisk Assessment template
Mobile Work Equipment Safety Risk Assessment
- Version
- v1
- Updated
- 1 October 2026
- Audience
- School leaders, estates and facilities teams, maintenance teams, grounds staff, competent persons and others responsible for mobile work equipment safety in maintained and academy primary and secondary schools.
- Jurisdiction
- england
Activity assessed
Use, supervision, inspection, maintenance and management of mobile work equipment provided by the school, including grounds, estate or maintenance machinery, equipment carrying employees, self-propelled equipment and equipment with powered attachments. Apply only where relevant equipment or activities are present.
Assess each hazard and its controls against your site before use. Template ratings require local review.
Hazards and controls
Employees may be carried on mobile work equipment that is not suitable for carrying people, creating risks of falls, injury or loss of control.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- Where employees are carried, identify the equipment, occupants, tasks and travel conditions. Verify that the equipment is suitable for carrying employees for the intended use. Define permitted occupants, operating conditions and supervision arrangements, and prevent carrying people where suitability has not been established.
Local assessment and additional controls
Mobile work equipment may roll over during travel, manoeuvring, loading, unloading or operation on uneven, sloped or unsuitable ground.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- Where applicable, assess routes, surfaces, gradients, edges, loads, operating speeds and manoeuvres that could contribute to rollover. Select and operate equipment in a way that minimises rollover risk, and define restrictions for ground conditions, slopes, loads and access routes.
Local assessment and additional controls
People being carried may fall from mobile work equipment or be inadequately protected if the equipment rolls over.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- Where people are carried, identify foreseeable fall and rollover scenarios and provide protection appropriate to the equipment and use. Verify that occupants are protected in the event of a fall or rollover, and define safe access, seating and occupancy arrangements.
Local assessment and additional controls
Occupants may be crushed during a rollover because suitable restraints or rollover protection are absent, unsuitable, damaged or not used.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- Where applicable, assess the need for a suitable restraint and rollover protection system. Verify that installed restraints and rollover protection are suitable for the equipment and intended use, remain serviceable, and are used as required. Include checks for damage, alteration and compatibility in inspection and maintenance arrangements.
Local assessment and additional controls
Self-propelled equipment may move uncontrollably or be unable to stop promptly because braking devices are absent, unsuitable or defective.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- For self-propelled equipment, verify that braking devices are provided and can control the equipment safely for the intended operating conditions. Include pre-use and planned inspection arrangements, defect reporting, isolation or withdrawal from use where safety-critical defects are identified, and safe parking or securing arrangements.
Local assessment and additional controls
Drivers may not see pedestrians, obstacles, edges, other vehicles or the equipment's operating area clearly enough to control self-propelled equipment safely.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- For self-propelled equipment, assess driver vision in the intended operating environment, including blind spots, reversing, attachments, loads, pedestrians and school access arrangements. Provide measures needed for safe control, such as route controls, exclusion or separation arrangements, assistance for restricted visibility, and operating restrictions where adequate vision cannot be achieved.
Local assessment and additional controls
Insufficient lighting may prevent the driver from seeing hazards or controlling self-propelled equipment safely, particularly in poor visibility or low-light conditions.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- For self-propelled equipment, assess whether lighting is necessary for the intended tasks, routes, working times and environmental conditions. Where necessary, provide and maintain suitable lighting and define conditions in which the equipment must not be operated because visibility is inadequate.
Local assessment and additional controls
Drive shafts that power accessories attached to mobile work equipment may expose people to entanglement, drawing-in, impact or other contact hazards.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- Where mobile work equipment has drive shafts that power attached accessories, identify the shafts and people who may be exposed. Provide adequate guards to prevent access to dangerous moving parts, maintain the guards, and prevent operation if guarding is missing, damaged or ineffective.
Local assessment and additional controls
Powered attachments may be operated without adequate control or guarding, exposing users, maintenance personnel or nearby people to moving parts and associated mobile-equipment risks.
- Existing controls
- To be assessed locally.
- Proposed controls
- Where powered attachments are used, identify the attachment, drive system, operating controls and people who may be exposed. Verify that the attachment can be controlled safely, that drive shafts are adequately guarded where applicable, and that access for adjustment, clearing blockages and maintenance is controlled so that people are not exposed to dangerous movement.
Local assessment and additional controls