M achine-related accidents and injuries are a fact of life in woodworking and, while companies – and the trade in general – are working hard to improve health and safety in the workplace, recent figures paint a picture of mixed success.

According to statistics from the Health & Safety Executive, the number of general accidents resulting in absences from work for over three days has come down quite steeply (from 370 in 2001-2002 to 243 in 2004-2005).

There’s no doubt that this is a significant improvement, but it does mask a more worrying problem. Put simply, the number of major injuries caused by machinery is not coming down nearly as fast as the HSE – and the woodworking industry – would hope.

There were 146 serious injuries caused by woodworking machinery in 2003-2004, two of which were fatal (kick-backs from circular saws being a chief offender).

Worse still is the fact that the timber industry out-punches its weight when it comes to machine injuries – around 27% of all major injuries (within the trade) are caused by machines, compared with other manufacturing industries, where the figure is closer to 10%.

Regular servicing

So what’s the problem? And how can the industry work to solve it? There’s no doubt regular servicing of machines has a big role to play. The timber and joinery industries are covered by the PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment) 1998 Regulations which lay down a code of practice for woodworking machinery.

In essence, the regulations state that machines have to be “maintained” so that their performance does not deteriorate to the point that workers are put at risk. This is particularly in relation to safety features, which could be anything from making sure the worktables are smooth and mechanical feed systems feed in properly, to guards being fully adjustable over the full range of work for which they are designed.

“Companies do need to keep their maintenance programmes up-to-date,” said Maureen Kingman, from the division within the HSE’s manufacturing sector which deals with timber. “Often, if it is done by the manufacturer or service provider, a firm needs to decide how often this servicing is carried out.

“The level of maintenance will obviously be different depending on how often the machine is in use: one that is used all day, every day, will require more maintenance than one used every week. This is something that the user needs to agree with the manufacturer.”

The Woodworking Machinery Suppliers’ Association technical director Tony Kaye believes the timber industry is generally good at maintaining its machines, but admits there’s always room for improvement.

“I do know that smaller firms in the industry don’t seem to favour a planned programme of maintenance,” he said. “It’s generally a case of ‘if it’s working leave it; if it breaks down, we’ll repair it’.”

&#8220By having a machine regularly serviced, not only do you help prevent accidents in the workplace, but the machine will run more efficiently”

Tony Kaye, Woodworking Machinery Suppliers’ Association

Mr Kaye said it’s often the performance of the machine, rather than the safety aspects, that are the primary consideration. “I don’t think this means they are irresponsible,” he said, “but rather reflects the fact that, in small companies, there just aren’t the same levels of manpower to follow through. It often comes down to cost.”

Meanwhile, the HSE’s main focus on health and safety within the woodworking sector this year is on wood dust as a source of asthma. Carpenters and joiners, it says, are four times more likely to get asthma compared with the UK working population. In fact, wood dust is in the top five causes of payment of disability benefit.

“Joinery companies need to have sufficient extraction systems in place to deal with wood dust and maintenance is a very big issue in LEV [local exhaust ventilation],” said Ms Kingman.

HSE inspections

Although the HSE does have a system for grading premises, the most likely reason for inspectors visiting a woodworking establishment would be to investigate an accident.

But it does also carry out proactive visits, where inspectors are looking at the main causes of accidents (for woodworking businesses this is manual handling, although the biggest cause of major injuries is machinery).

Service and maintenance companies like Wadkin UltraCare take health and safety very seriously and can help timber companies comply with legislative demands.

“We keep a log at customers’ premises of our service care packages where clients know what’s been done,” said marketing executive Nuria de la Fuente. “We will also carry out risk assessments – everything is recorded at the site so a health and safety officer can see what work has been carried out.”

It’s not just about health and safety: regular servicing not only cuts down work-related injuries, but can also help improve productivity. “By having a machine regularly serviced, not only do you help prevent accidents in the workplace, but the machine will run more efficiently,” said Tony Kaye.

It’s a simple but effective message. Regular maintenance helps protect staff – and can also benefit the bottom line.