DynamoDental

Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/128)

PSSR 2000: Pressure Systems Safety Regulations and dental compressors

PSSR 2000 aims to prevent injury from the stored energy released when a pressure system fails. It applies to systems containing a 'relevant fluid', which includes compressed air at a pressure above 0.5 bar over atmospheric. A dental compressor with an air receiver is a pressure system in this sense, and steam sterilisers are pressure systems too.

Jurisdiction
England
Last verified
9 September 2026
Next review
9 March 2027
Version
1

In plain English

PSSR 2000 aims to prevent injury from the stored energy released when a pressure system fails. It applies to systems containing a 'relevant fluid', which includes compressed air at a pressure above 0.5 bar over atmospheric. A dental compressor with an air receiver is a pressure system in this sense, and steam sterilisers are pressure systems too.

The regulations require that the system is properly designed and installed, that the user knows its safe operating limits, that it is maintained and, for systems above a size threshold, that it is examined by a competent person in accordance with a written scheme of examination. Small systems can be exempt from the written scheme and examination requirements. Schedule 1 to the regulations sets out the exemptions; one of them applies where the pressure in bar multiplied by the internal volume in litres is less than 250 bar litres. Whether a given dental compressor falls inside or outside the requirement depends on its rated pressure and receiver size and must be worked out for the specific installation, not assumed. Check the current HSE guidance.

Routine compressor servicing and a PSSR examination are different things. Servicing keeps the machine working to the manufacturer's schedule. The examination is a statutory check of the pressure-containing parts by a competent person. One does not replace the other, and there is no single 'PSSR certificate'.

Who does what

Your responsibility as the provider

The 'user' of an installed pressure system, which is the practice, holds the duties. These include:

  • Establishing whether each compressor and receiver falls within the written scheme requirements, using its rated pressure and receiver volume
  • Where it does, having a written scheme of examination drawn up or certified by a competent person before the system is used, and having it examined at the intervals the scheme sets
  • Knowing the safe operating limits of the system and making sure they are not exceeded
  • Providing operating instructions and making sure staff follow them
  • Maintaining the system in good repair, so as to prevent danger
  • Acting on any defects reported by the competent person, and keeping the written scheme, reports and records available

What Dynamo Dental delivers directly

Dynamo Dental carries out the maintenance side for dental compressors. Our quotation states which of the items below you are buying. Routine servicing is described as routine servicing; it is never presented as a PSSR examination.

  • Planned servicing to the manufacturer's schedule: filters, dryer, drains, leak checks, checks of pressure control and safety devices as the schedule sets out, and a run test
  • Repairs and replacement of compressor components, and installation of new compressors
  • Recording the compressor's rated pressure and receiver volume on the asset register, so the practice and its competent person can establish whether a written scheme is required
  • Recording which examination evidence the practice holds and when the next examination is due, as a reminder rather than as a substitute
  • Coordinating a competent person for the written scheme and examination, where the practice asks us to

Verified specialist competence, or a specialist partner

Dynamo Dental does not act as the competent person. Where we coordinate one, we say so, and the examination report comes from them, not from us.

  • Drawing up or certifying the written scheme of examination: a competent person, typically an engineering inspection body, often arranged through the practice's insurer
  • The periodic examination itself and the report of examination: the same competent person
  • Repairs to pressure-containing parts after an examination: governed by the competent person's report, which states what must happen before the system returns to use

Outside our scope

  • Written schemes of examination and competent-person examinations
  • Certifying that a compressor complies with PSSR
  • Design or manufacture of pressure vessels
  • Pressure systems other than dental compressors (for example sterilisers or medical gas installations)

Questions

Questions on this topic

Does every dental compressor need a written scheme of examination?

Not necessarily. PSSR exempts some small systems, including those where pressure in bar multiplied by receiver volume in litres is less than 250. Many small dental compressors sit near this threshold, so it must be worked out for each unit from its rated pressure and receiver volume and confirmed with a competent person. Do not assume either way.

Can Dynamo Dental issue a PSSR certificate after a service?

No, and no supplier can. There is no 'PSSR certificate'. The documents PSSR calls for are the written scheme of examination and the competent person's report of examination. We issue a service report for the maintenance we carry out and can coordinate a competent person for the examination.

Other topics

Not sure what records you should have?

The Practice Engineering Survey establishes what exists and what is missing, without claiming to be an audit.

Report a problem Get a servicing quote