CalmComplianceRisk Assessment template
School Power Press Safety Risk Assessment
- Version
- v1
- Updated
- 1 October 2026
- Audience
- School leaders, employers, competent persons, design and technology or engineering leads, technicians, and other staff responsible for equipment safety.
- Jurisdiction
- england
Activity assessed
Providing, using, inspecting, examining, testing, maintaining, or managing defects in power presses used for working on cold metal, including safeguards, protection devices, pre-use controls, periodic arrangements, competent-person examination, records, and remedial actions. Applicability is conditional on the school providing or using such power presses.
Assess each hazard and its controls against your site before use. Template ratings require local review.
Hazards and controls
Access to hazardous moving parts or the point of operation where a power press is used for working on cold metal, including where safeguards or protection devices are absent, unsuitable, damaged, or ineffective.
- Existing controls
- No site-specific existing controls or evidence have been provided. Record the safeguards and protection devices present, their condition, their intended function, and any limitations identified during the site assessment.
- Proposed controls
- Where the equipment is confirmed to be a power press for working on cold metal, establish and maintain suitable safeguards and protection devices as applicable to the equipment. Arrange inspection and testing of guards and protection devices by a competent person at frequent intervals, and record the results. Do not treat the resource as evidence that any control has been installed, inspected, tested, or adopted.
Local assessment and additional controls
Use of a power press before its safeguards and condition have been appropriately examined, or continued use where required examination or testing has not been completed.
- Existing controls
- No site-specific examination arrangements, certificates, dates, or records have been provided. Confirm whether the equipment is within scope, identify the person responsible for arrangements, and record the evidence available for each item of equipment.
- Proposed controls
- Where applicable, arrange a thorough examination of the power press and its safeguards before first putting it into use and periodically afterwards. Ensure that the required examination, inspection, and testing arrangements are defined for each item and that evidence is retained. The applicable arrangements remain to be confirmed for the particular equipment and site.
Local assessment and additional controls
Failure to identify or act on defects affecting the power press, safeguards, or protection devices, creating a risk that defective equipment remains available for use.
- Existing controls
- No site-specific defect-reporting, isolation, withdrawal-from-use, or remedial-action arrangements have been provided. Record the arrangements in place, responsible persons, escalation route, and evidence of completed actions.
- Proposed controls
- Define a process for reporting defects, assessing whether the equipment or safeguard may continue to be used, recording remedial actions, and confirming closure by an appropriately competent person. Where an examination, inspection, or test identifies a defect, record the finding and the decision taken before further use. This resource does not determine whether any particular defect permits continued use.
Local assessment and additional controls
Inadequate pre-use arrangements, including failure to check the condition and operation of relevant safeguards or protection devices before a power press is used.
- Existing controls
- No site-specific pre-use checks, user instructions, authorisation arrangements, or completed check records have been provided. Record the checks required for the identified equipment and how completion is evidenced.
- Proposed controls
- Define and document pre-use checks appropriate to the identified power press, its safeguards, and its protection devices. Ensure users know how to report a fault and that equipment is not used where a relevant defect has not been assessed. Align the pre-use process with the competent-person inspection and testing arrangements and retain appropriate records.
Local assessment and additional controls
Gaps in periodic examination, inspection, testing, or record keeping for a power press and its safeguards and protection devices.
- Existing controls
- No site-specific schedule, competent-person details, examination reports, inspection or test records, or review arrangements have been provided. Record the current status and any evidence identified during the assessment.
- Proposed controls
- Create a site-specific register for each confirmed power press, showing the equipment identity, applicable examination and inspection arrangements, competent person, dates, findings, actions, and record location. Where applicable, keep records of examinations, inspections, and tests. The frequency and scope for the particular equipment must be established by the responsible competent person; no frequency or status is assumed by this resource.
Local assessment and additional controls
Misclassification of ordinary school machinery as a power press, or failure to recognise equipment that falls within the conditional scope of this register.
- Existing controls
- No equipment inventory, technical descriptions, photographs, manufacturer information, or site observations have been provided. Record the evidence used to classify each item and identify any uncertainty requiring competent-person review.
- Proposed controls
- Confirm from site evidence whether each item is a power press used for working on cold metal before applying this register. If the classification is uncertain, obtain appropriate competent advice and record the basis for the decision. Do not apply the power-press-specific arrangements solely because equipment is used in a school workshop or technology area.
Local assessment and additional controls