There is no regulation that says hydraulic hoses must be inspected every X months. That absence is precisely why the job drifts.
What the law actually asks for
PUWER requires work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, and inspected where safety depends on the installation conditions and on deterioration. Hydraulic hoses fall squarely inside that.
What it does not do is give you a frequency. It puts the responsibility on you to set an appropriate regime for your equipment and your usage, and to be able to show why it is appropriate.
Worth saying plainly: we are hydraulic engineers, not safety consultants. Treat this as practical background and take your formal compliance advice from someone qualified to give it.
Setting an interval that makes sense
Duty is what should drive it. Some rough starting points, to be adjusted once you see what condition your equipment is actually in:
- Daily walk-round. Visible damage, leaks, anything obviously rubbing. This is the operator’s job and takes a minute.
- At every routine service. A proper look at every assembly on the machine, not a glance at the ones you can see from standing.
- High-duty plant. Balers, material handlers, breakers and anything running continuously at pressure needs looking at far more often than a machine that works light.
- Hot or dirty environments. Foundry, waste and process work all shorten hose life. Inspect more often, not less.
- Safety-critical circuits. Anything holding a load or affecting steering or braking deserves its own, tighter regime.
Age-based versus condition-based
Some operators replace hoses on critical circuits at a fixed age regardless of condition. It is a defensible approach, particularly where a failure would be expensive or dangerous.
The trap is treating age as the whole answer. A two-year-old hose that is badly routed and rubbing is in worse shape than a well-routed eight-year-old one. Age tells you where to look harder. It does not tell you what you will find.
Record it
An inspection with no written record is very hard to demonstrate afterwards. Keep it per machine, note what was found and what was done, and grade the findings so the list is actually actionable: replace now, replace at next service, monitor.
A list where everything is urgent gets ignored, which is worse than not having one.
If you would rather have this done properly and documented, that is what a hose inspection is.