Nearly every workplace in Great Britain has at least one pressure system, even if nobody calls it that: the compressor and receiver in the workshop, a steam boiler or calorifier in the plant room, an autoclave in a dental surgery, a refrigeration plant behind a supermarket. The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000, usually shortened to PSSR, set out what the user or owner of that plant has to do to stop it failing. This template is the site's own check of those duties. It starts with a register of every system and then walks through limits, protective devices, condition, the written scheme and its reports, operation, maintenance and records, ending with a list of actions. Fill it in here and download a PDF without an account, or speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
What counts as a pressure system
Under PSSR, a pressure system is a vessel together with its pipework and protective devices, holding a relevant fluid. That means steam at any pressure, or a gas, a gas mixture or a liquid with a vapour pressure kept more than 0.5 bar above atmospheric. Compressed air counts. So does the gas side of a hydraulic accumulator and the refrigerant in larger cooling plant. Water in a cold-feed pipe does not.
Some equipment sits outside the Regulations or under other rules — most transportable gas cylinders are dealt with by carriage legislation, for example. If you are not sure whether a piece of plant is in scope, put it in the register anyway and ask your competent person; the register costs nothing and a missing system is the most common gap.
Who does what
The user of an installed system, or the owner of a mobile one, carries the duties. They must establish the safe operating limits, make sure there is a written scheme of examination drawn up or certified by a competent person, have the plant examined in line with that scheme, give operators adequate instructions, maintain the system and keep the records.
The competent person — often an insurer's engineering inspection service or an independent inspection body — decides what the scheme should cover, how often each part must be examined and what kind of examination it needs, and then carries the examinations out and reports. This form does none of that. It records the site's side: that the scheme exists, that examinations are in date, that the plant is being run within its limits and kept in good order between visits, and that reported defects are acted on.
Safe operating limits and protective devices
Every system needs a known upper limit for pressure, and for temperature where it matters. The protective devices — safety valves, bursting discs, pressure switches, high-temperature and low-water cut-outs — are what hold the plant inside that limit when something else goes wrong. That is why the scheme must always cover them, and why a safety valve that has been wedged shut or isolated to stop it simmering is one of the most serious things a site check can find.
The form asks whether the limit is visible to the operator at the plant, whether every system was inside it at the time of the check, and whether each device is fitted, free to act and set no higher than the limit.
Examinations, reports and imminent danger
After each examination the competent person writes a report, normally within 28 days, stating what was examined, its condition, any repairs needed and the date by which the next examination must happen. If they find a defect that gives rise to imminent danger, they must tell the user straight away, and the system must not be used until the defect has been put right.
The checks on the paperwork are simple: is the latest report on file for every system, have the repairs it asked for been done by the dates it gave, and has any system named in an imminent-danger report stayed out of use. Each of those is a scored check.
Small systems
A written scheme is not needed for every vessel. Broadly, systems holding a fluid other than steam whose pressure multiplied by internal volume is under 250 bar litres are outside the scheme requirement, although the general duties to keep the plant safe still apply. The register has an option for systems your competent person has confirmed need no scheme, and those entries are left out of the score rather than counted as gaps. Check the approved code of practice, L122, for the exact boundaries.
Common questions
What is a PSSR inspection?
People use the term for two different things. Strictly, it is the examination a competent person carries out under the written scheme of examination required by the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000. Informally, it also means the site's own check that the systems, records and arrangements are in order between those examinations. This template is the second kind.
Does an air compressor come under PSSR?
Usually, yes. A compressor with an air receiver holds a relevant fluid above 0.5 bar, so it is a pressure system. Very small units may fall below the size at which a written scheme is required, but the other duties still apply. Your competent person can confirm where each unit sits.
Who can write a written scheme of examination?
It must be drawn up or certified as suitable by a competent person — someone with the knowledge, experience and independence to judge the risks of that particular plant. Many sites use their insurer's engineering inspection service or an accredited inspection body.
How often do pressure systems need examining?
The Regulations do not set one interval. The competent person sets the interval for each part in the written scheme, taking account of its age, condition, contents and history, and states the date of the next examination in each report.
What records must be kept under PSSR?
The last examination report for each system, and any earlier reports and information that help assess whether the system is safe to operate or that a repair or modification can be carried out safely. Mobile system owners must make sure the information reaches the user.
Does completing this checklist make us compliant with PSSR?
No. It records what the site checked and what it found. Compliance depends on the safe operating limits, the written scheme, the examinations and the follow-up actually being in place and adequate, which is judged against the Regulations and the approved code of practice.