Recently the FPS Operations committee put together a small working group to review the Notes for Guidance on PUWER (Regulations 11 & 12) in relation to Guarding and Cleaning of augers on Piling operations. This document had originally been developed and published in collaboration with the HSE however the last published review document was back in 2013.

Whilst maintaining the basic structure of the document and the coverage of piling techniques contained within, the goal of the review was to bring the document up to date regarding:

• referenced standards and legislation that have been updated since the last publication,
• incorporation of new guidance and reference materials appropriate to the topic,
• general wording of the guidance for current operating requirements.

Significant changes included in this update include:

The addition of reference to the HSE publication “The prevention of entanglement in the rotary parts of drilling and piling rigs” published in 2015 and reviewed in 2019. This is an important source of reference material that was not available at the time of the last FPS review and the new publication includes links to the HSE website for access to the full HSE documentation.

The HSE published the Fourth edition of their Approved Code of Practice entitled Safe Use of Work Equipment in 2014 with amendments made in 2018 and the FPS document reflects this to avoid contradiction in the information provided.

Updated references to the publication of BS EN 16228 parts 1 to 7 for Drilling and foundation equipment – Safety, which occurred in 2014 to replace the previous standards BS EN 791 & BS EN 996. The BS EN 16228 standards have also been revised in 2021 and the guidance contained within the revised FPS document reflects the new wording used in these standards, this covers both improved operational safety procedures and technological improvements that have been made particularly in the area of guarding sensors.

As with the previous version of the FPS guidance, the aim remains to provide some practical principals to assist companies operating within the piling industry on their journey towards compliance with regards to guarding and auger cleaning. It is not a comprehensive coverage of the regulations but should complement rather than replace other documents of legal standing.

To find out more, visit – fps.org.uk/guidance/plant-guidance/