SiteThe new filler arrived with a manual the size of a phone book. Three hundred pages, most of it in the back of a cupboard in the engineering office. Somewhere in there is a maintenance section with a table of hours, tasks and part numbers.
Nobody has opened it since the install engineer left. The filler's PPM is a single line on the CMMS: "Monthly check". Your fitter does what they think it needs, and signs it off.
Then the cam follower bearings go at 4,000 hours. The table on page 212 said to change them at 3,000.
Most sites have a manual like that, and a PPM line like that. The manual is the best place to start a schedule. But it needs work before it's any use on the shop floor.
Start where HSE starts
HSE's code of practice for PUWER points you at the manual first. More complex powered equipment "will normally be accompanied by a manufacturer's maintenance manual". It says maintenance should follow the maker's recommendations, "for example periodic lubrication, replacement and adjustment of parts" (L22, paragraph 74). HSE's maintenance guidance says the same thing for planning any job: use the manufacturer's maintenance instructions where you can (HSE, maintenance of work equipment).
If the manual is missing, ask for it. Makers and suppliers have duties to provide enough information, including drawings, for safe operation and maintenance. The code of practice puts it bluntly: "Check that they are provided" (L22, paragraph 115). If it's an old machine and the maker's long gone, see fixing kit nobody supports.
Pull the tasks out
Get the manual, a highlighter and a quiet hour. Go through the maintenance section and pull out every task with an interval. Put each one on its own line in a spreadsheet:
- what the task is, in the maker's words
- the interval, whether that's hours, cycles, days or weeks
- the parts, lubricants and quantities
- any special tools or settings
- whether the machine needs to be isolated
Watch for tasks hidden outside the maintenance section. Makers often put lubrication charts in one place, safety device checks in another and torque settings in a third. The safety checks are the ones you can least afford to miss. A fault that stops production shows up fast. A fault in a safety system "could remain undetected unless appropriate safety checks are included in maintenance activities" (L22, paragraph 71).
Translate it for your shifts
A maker's table is written for a machine running a standard pattern in a clean room. Your machine isn't in a clean room.
Turn hours and cycles into dates that fit your shifts. If the filler runs 24 hours a day, five days a week, a 500-hour task comes round about every four weeks. If it runs one shift, it's closer to three months. Check the hour meter now, and set a date for when each task falls due.
Then group the tasks. Nobody wants to isolate the same machine four times in a month for four small jobs. Bundle the weekly jobs into one visit, the monthly ones into another, and the big jobs into a shutdown slot.
Write each task as an instruction a fitter can follow without the manual open. "Grease each cam follower, two shots, grease as per the lube chart" beats "Lubricate as required". If the task needs a reading, say what good looks like and what to do if it's out.
Then adjust it for real life
The manual is a starting point, and the code of practice expects you to move from it. It says the frequency of maintenance should take account of how hard the kit is worked, the operating environment, the variety of jobs it does, and the risk if it fails (L22, paragraph 72). Extra measures may be needed in arduous conditions, and reviewed "in the light of ongoing operating experiences" (L22, paragraph 76).
On a real site that means some tasks come closer together. A gearbox in a washdown area needs more attention than the table says. A conveyor in a dusty warehouse needs its bearings checked more often. If you're running the machine harder than the maker planned, the intervals should shrink to match.
Some tasks can stretch, but be careful. We'd only lengthen an interval when you have records showing the part is in good condition at each check. Never stretch a safety device check because it's inconvenient.
Make the log do the work
PUWER only requires a log to be kept up to date where the machine already has one (regulation 5). HSE recommends keeping a record for high-risk equipment. It says a good log "can provide information for future planning of maintenance activities" (L22, paragraph 78).
That's the real value. After a year, your log tells you which tasks find problems and which never do. Use it to review the schedule. Our guide to reviewing an out-of-date PPM schedule covers how. If your CMMS makes that hard, see choosing a CMMS.
Start with the machines that matter
You won't get every machine done in a week. Don't try.
Start with your most critical kit. If you haven't ranked it, criticality ranking shows you how. Do the top five machines properly, then work down the list.
And be honest about who will do the work. A schedule your team can't keep up with is a list of overdue jobs. If your fitters are already pulled onto breakdowns most days, the new PPM will slip in the first month. Work out the hours the schedule needs each week, compare them with the hours you have, and decide how to fill the gap. That might mean more cover on certain shifts, or an outside engineer for the bigger tasks. The worst answer is a schedule that looks good on paper and never gets done.
What to do on Monday
- Find the manuals for your top five machines. Ask the maker or supplier for any that are missing.
- Pull every task and interval from one manual into a spreadsheet, safety checks included.
- Turn the intervals into dates using the hour meter and your shift pattern, and group the tasks.
- Add up the weekly hours the schedule needs, and check you have the people to do them.
* Paragraph numbers refer to L22, fourth edition (2014, amended 2018), correct as of 14 September 2026. Check HSE's L22 page and PUWER on legislation.gov.uk for the latest.