Who is trained and assessed to run your digger, and can you show it when a main contractor or the HSE asks? PHW assesses your operators for competence on your own machine, on your own site. Mostly micro and mini diggers from 1 to 8 tonnes, and 360 excavators up to 12 tonnes.
1 to 8 tonne micro and mini diggers, and 360 excavators up to 12 tonnes (tracked or wheeled)
Theory and practical assessment, carried out on your own machine, on your own site. In plain terms: can the operator check the machine, work safely near buried services and overhead cables, dig, backfill and grade, load lorries, and change a bucket or quick hitch.
The operator gets certificates to show on site. You get the records for your file. Anyone can scan the QR code on a certificate to check it live.
The duty to train and assess competence sits with the employer, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 section 2(2)(c) and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) regulation 9. PUWER also applies to a self-employed operator for the equipment they use at work (regulation 3).
PUWER is supported by the Approved Code of Practice L22, safe use of work equipment, which sets out the training regulation 9 requires.
On a construction site, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 regulation 22 covers excavations, including supporting or battering the sides so they do not collapse. HSE guidance HSG47 covers underground services before digging starts, and GS6 covers work near overhead power lines.
Where the excavator is used for lifting, for example placing pipes into a trench, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) apply: the lift must be planned by a competent person, and the excavator when it lifts, and the chains and slings, must be thoroughly examined.
The employer decides who is authorised to run each machine and keeps that decision on file. The certificate, unit credit, theory and practical records and site evidence statement are the evidence behind it.
Up to four of your people assessed for competence in one day, on your own site and machines, with minimum downtime. Plus a written safe-system pack for each topic. Tell us the machine, the site postcode and how many operators, and we will come back with a quote and dates.
Get a quoteHSE prosecutions in this line of work.
£40,000 + £6,181 costs · 2026-09-01
A father and son unloading scrap metal were struck by material falling from an unstable stockpile, one breaking a leg.
Read the case →Nominal fine of £1 (company in liquidation) · 2026-04-16
A worker sorting waste in the yard was run over by a reversing 15-tonne excavator, resulting in the amputation of both lower legs.
Read the case →£3,000 + £6,450 costs · 2026-01-09
A site manager refused to cooperate with inspectors investigating unsafe roof access, gave a false identity and made threats.
Read the case →