If you've got a fixed gas system in your lab, the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 require you to have a written scheme of examination in place before you can operate it legally.
Under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR), any laboratory with a fixed gas system must have a written scheme of examination (WSE). Regulation 8 of PSSR specifically requires that pressure systems containing a relevant fluid - including gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen, compressed air, and others above certain pressure limits - are operated only under a written scheme drawn up by a competent person.
The written scheme defines your system's safe operating limits, lists every component with its inspection periods, and specifies what each protective device is expected to do. Without one, you're operating outside UK regulations for pressure systems safety, regardless of how well maintained the pressure equipment is.
Lab managers, health and safety officers, and building superintendents land on this page when compliance has come into question. Many have gas systems that have been running for years with no formal documentation.
Some common reasons include:
Just failed a health and safety audit
New to a role and unsure what's in place
Insurance inspector asked to see gas compliance paperwork
Planning a lab upgrade or change of gas type
Heard about PSSR regulations for the first time
Existing supplier can't produce documentation on request
A written scheme of examination exists independently of any inspection - you need the document before the inspection can mean anything.
If your lab has fixed pressure systems - pipework connected to cylinders, wall-mounted regulators, pressure gauges, pressure vessels, a compressed air system, or a gas manifold - PSSR regulations apply and a written scheme is required. Mobile setups may fall outside scope, but fixed installations and compressed air installations with connected pressure equipment do not. Fixed systems that typically fall within scope include:
Fixed pipework in a lab or gas cage
Wall-mounted or manifold-fed gas systems
Pressure vessels associated with compressor or generator systems
Compressed air system supplying instruments or processes
Multiple gas types on one installation
Any system connected to analytical instruments via fixed lines
Not sure whether your system qualifies? A free site survey will confirm it.
You might think a written scheme is just something bigger companies worry about.
Duty holders under the Pressure System Safety Regulations are the owners and users of the pressure system. The system owner carries ultimate legal responsibility, but in practice that burden often falls on the end users of the plant or equipment - the lab manager, head of department, or building superintendent who can be held accountable for health and safety within that space. Responsibilities usually include:
Ensuring a written scheme exists for each fixed pressure system
Arranging annual PSSR inspection and testing against the written scheme
Keeping inspection reports and compliance records accessible
Acting on any failed components or safety devices identified during inspection
Commissioning a new written scheme when the gas system changes
A system failure in a laboratory gas installation doesn't always give warning in advance.
Safety devices such as pressure release valves and safety valves are protective devices - but they only function correctly if the system has been through a proper safety examination against a written scheme that defines what they're supposed to do. The Pressure System Safety Regulations 2000, alongside HSE's Safety of Pressure Systems guidelines and ACOP L122, exist because stored energy in pressurised systems poses a real risk to safety critical areas of any working laboratory. The written scheme is the document that demonstrates you've taken that risk seriously.
A properly prepared laboratory written scheme covers more than a description of the system. Each examination scheme is specific to a single installation. The range of examination schemes in use across laboratories varies, but a complete system examination document typically includes:
A schematic drawing or photograph identifying the system
Serial numbers and reference tags for each component
Safe operating limits, including pressure in bars where relevant
Inspection periods and replacement dates for each component
Details of safety valves, pressure gauges, level indicators, and other protective devices
The name and credentials of the competent person who prepared it
Once the written scheme is in place, everything else follows from it - the annual inspections, the component replacements, the paperwork trail that demonstrates you've done what the law requires.
If you don't have a written scheme in place, or you've inherited paperwork you can't verify, we can survey your system, produce documentation that meets the legal standard, and take the compliance burden off your desk.
Speck & Burke draws up a written scheme of examination for each fixed gas system on your site, signed off by a qualified competent person.
You get a document built around your specific installation - not a generic template - that holds up to HSE scrutiny and forms the basis for all future inspections.
Once your written scheme is in place, we carry out the annual PSSR inspection against it. Components approaching the end of their inspection periods are flagged in advance, and replacements are brought on the day where possible, so the visit ends with a fully compliant system.
If your system has outstanding failures from a previous inspection - or no inspection record at all - we can assess the current condition, carry out any remedial work required, and bring your pressure equipment back into compliance.
A written scheme of examination is a legal document required under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000. It describes your gas system, records serial numbers and component details, defines the safe operating limits, and sets out the inspection periods for each part. Regulation 8 of PSSR requires that it's drawn up by a competent person before the system can be operated legally. Annual inspections are then the periodic examinations carried out against it.
Yes. Each individual pressure system requires its own examination scheme. There's no blanket document that covers multiple installations. If you have ten systems on site, you need ten written schemes of examination, each with its own reference number, schematic drawing, and full component list - including all safety devices, pressure gauges, and level indicators.
It must be drawn up and signed off by a competent person - someone with the relevant qualifications and experience to stand behind the document as a legal record. Our engineers hold BCAS Competent Examiner qualifications. A written scheme produced internally by a non-qualified end user, without that sign-off, won't satisfy PSSR regulations.
The written scheme is the document that defines what your pressure system should do and the safe operating limits it must stay within. A PSSR inspection is the periodic examination and testing services carried out against it by an accredited inspection body. You need both. An inspection without a written scheme isn't compliant, and a written scheme without regular safety examination of each component doesn't fulfil your ongoing obligations either.
You're operating your pressure system outside the requirements of PSSR regulations. If a system failure occurs or an HSE inspector visits, you won't be able to demonstrate compliance or show that adequate safety measures were in place. Responsibility falls on the duty holder - the system owner, or in most labs the lab manager, head of department, or building superintendent.
The written scheme itself is a static document. It only needs to change if the pressure system changes - a different gas type, a new component, or an alteration to the plant or equipment. What changes annually is the inspection report, which records the outcome of each periodic examination carried out against the scheme.
Speak to Speck & Burke about a free site survey - no commitment, just a clear picture of what you need.
Call now on 01259 222 600.
