Operator training for plant hire companies and their customers

When a machine goes out on hire, the duty to train and assess the operator sits with the hiring employer, not the hire company. PHW delivers that training directly to a hire company's customers, on the hired machine, so the evidence exists before the machine leaves the yard.

Get a quote The legal position

The risks this trade carries

In your own terms, not a generic hazard list.

The training duty sits with the hiring employer

PUWER 1998 regulation 9 places the duty to train and assess competence on whoever the operator works for at the time, which on a hire is the customer, not the hire company. A hired machine with an unassessed operator behind it leaves that duty unmet.

Damage and downtime from unassessed operation

An operator without assessed competence on a specific machine is more likely to cause damage or breakdown, which lands as cost and downtime on both the hire company and its customer.

No evidence trail at handover

A hire agreement on its own says nothing about who is competent to run the machine. Without a certificate, a record and a live verification page, there is nothing for either side to point to if something goes wrong.

A mixed fleet means training across categories

Customers hiring across telescopic handlers, excavators, dumpers, rollers and MEWPs in the same period need operators assessed on each machine category they actually use, not just one.

The law that applies

Named, not paraphrased into a claim.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 section 2(2)(c) and PUWER 1998 regulation 9 place the duty to train and assess operator competence on the employer using the machine at the time, which on a hire is the hiring customer.

The Approved Code of Practice L117 sets out the three-stage training model behind that duty: basic training, job-specific training, and familiarisation with the particular machine and site.

Employer duty

The employer still authorises each operator or member of staff in writing; PHW's certificates, records and packs are the evidence the employer relies on for that decision, not a substitute for it.

The full range PHW trains and assesses.

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What you end up holding

The evidence trail a site, a licensing officer or an insurer can check.

Certificates and records for every operator trained on a hired machine
A site evidence statement the customer keeps on file
A live verification page the hire company or the customer can check at any time
A QR code on the certificate, resolving straight to that record

How verification works →