Automation, control systems, machine safety and OT cyber security for industrial sites across the UK

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automation, process and machine safety systems

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PLC & control systems

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Bespoke engineering solutions

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Safety systems

Unplanned downtime costs UK industrial sites an average of £5,121 per hour. Most of it is preventable.

Ageing PLCs. Undocumented control systems. Safety circuits that have not kept pace with how your site actually operates today. These are not abstract risks — they are the predictable result of systems that have grown, changed and aged without structured engineering oversight.

Hale Engineering works with industrial sites across the UK to keep automation, control and machine safety systems reliable, compliant and fit for the long term. We work on the systems that matter most — and we know what happens when they fail.

The newest cause of downtime isn’t mechanical

Control systems that were never designed to be connected now sit on networks that reach the outside world. Remote support links, contractor laptops, unmanaged switches, flat networks, PLCs running firmware that has not been touched in a decade.

An OT cyber incident does not present itself as a cyber incident. It presents as a line that stops, a batch that fails, a safety system in an unexpected state — and an engineering team with no way to tell whether it was a fault or an intrusion.

Hale Engineering secures the systems we already understand. We are control systems engineers first, which means we secure OT without breaking production — and we own the boundary between your IT network and your plant floor under a single contract.

WHAT WE DO

Automation, control systems and machine safety engineering

At the heart of every reliable industrial site is well-engineered automation — PLC-driven, properly documented and actively maintained. When control systems are sound, everything else follows: production runs, safety holds, compliance is manageable and the engineering team is not permanently firefighting.

We are specialists in PLC programming and control systems integration, SCADA and HMI development, control panel design and build, machine safety, process control and safety instrumented systems.

We work across Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi and Omron platforms and support sites from initial audit and design through to commissioning, optimisation and ongoing reliability.

Our work spans the full engineering lifecycle. Whether your site needs fault-finding on a live system, a phased legacy migration or a full functional safety review, we bring the right engineering capability — without overcomplicating what already works.

CORE SOLUTION

Hale Engineering provides practical engineering support that keeps industrial processes running safely and efficiently for day-to-day operational performance and control system reliability.

From troubleshooting live systems to delivering upgrades, new automation and control infrastructure, our work focuses on dependable solutions that improve visibility, reduce downtime and support long-term maintainability.

PLC programming, upgrades & troubleshooting

From fault diagnosis on a live system to structured upgrades and new builds. We work across Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi, Omron and other major platforms — carefully, and with full documentation.

SCADA & HMI development

Better operator interfaces, improved alarm handling, data logging and trending. Clearer visibility means faster diagnosis, safer operation and better-informed decisions on the floor.

Legacy system migration

Obsolete control hardware and software, phased out properly. We manage migration to modern, supported platforms with minimal disruption to production.

Automation & process optimisation

Improving throughput, consistency and efficiency by refining control strategies and automating what should not still be manual.

Remote diagnostics & technical support

Fast, secure remote access to diagnose and resolve issues without waiting for site attendance. Particularly valuable when time is short and the problem is not.

Control panel design, build & upgrades

Bespoke panels built around your operational and safety requirements. Clearly wired, properly documented and built to last.

MCC design and modification

Motor control centres designed and modified to support safe, reliable and maintainable machine operation.

Safety relays, emergency stops, interlocks and light curtains

Effective, maintainable protection measures — designed to work in practice and hold up under scrutiny.

Factory acceptance testing (FAT) and commissioning

Structured testing before and during handover. No surprises when it matters most.

ADVANCED SOLUTION

For operations where safety, compliance and operational risk carry significant consequences, Hale Engineering provides specialist engineering support for complex industrial environments.

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Regulatory compliance and safety lifecycle management

For sites operating under COMAH, PUWER, the Machinery Directive or IEC functional safety standards, or facing increasing HSE audit and enforcement pressure, Hale Engineering provides structured engineering support at the highest level of complexity and consequence.

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Safety system upgrades and machinery safety reviews

Reviewing and upgrading machine safety systems to meet current regulatory obligations under PUWER and the Machinery Directive. Clearly documented, practically implemented and built to stand up to inspection.

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Process safety and safety instrumented systems (SIS)

Hazard and risk assessment — HAZOP and FMEA — through to specification, design and proof-testing of safety instrumented systems in line with IEC 61511 and IEC 61508. For sites where a failure means more than downtime.

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Functional safety management

Managing the full safety lifecycle: risk assessment, safety requirements specification, design, implementation, validation, operation, maintenance and modification of SIS, for clients who need a competent engineering partner to own and manage functional safety, not just deliver a report.

CYBER SECURITY SOLUTION

Most cyber providers understand IT. Most control engineers understand OT. Very few own the seam between them — and that seam is where industrial risk actually lives.*

Hale Engineering delivers IT and OT cyber security under one prime contract, with one point of accountability. Our work is designed to IEC 62443 principles for the OT layer, and aligned to Cyber Essentials and the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework at the IT layer.*

We call our approach DADA — a four-stage service ladder you can start at any rung.

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Discover

You cannot secure what you cannot see. We build a complete, accurate register of your OT assets — PLCs, HMIs, drives, network devices, remote access paths and the firmware and software versions behind them. For most sites, this is the first time the picture has ever been complete.

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Assess

A structured assessment of your control system security posture against IEC 62443 principles, identifying the exposures that carry real operational consequence — not a generic scan report with 400 findings and no priorities.

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Design & Remediate

Network segmentation, secure remote access, hardened control system architecture, patch and backup strategy. Designed by engineers who know what happens if you take that PLC offline at the wrong moment — and implemented in a sequence your production schedule can absorb.

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Assure

Cyber security is not a project that finishes. Our recurring service maintains secure remote access, verified control system backups and restores, a live asset register and ongoing vulnerability advisory — with optional supplier assurance, incident response retainer, periodic reassessment and change assurance.

WHERE WE WORK

Hale Engineering is experienced in complex, high-risk industrial environments including:

Recycling and waste management

Energy and power generation

Logistics and distribution

Utilities and water treatment

Waste-to-energy

Manufacturing

Pharmaceuticals

These are not environments that tolerate guesswork, underdocumented systems or engineering partners who disappear after delivery.

We are trusted here because we understand the operational pressures, the regulatory landscape and the consequences of getting it wrong.

WHY HALE ENGINEERING

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Multi-disciplinary engineering capability — automation, electrical, control and safety under one roof

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Engineer-led from first conversation to final commissioning

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Experienced across complex, high-risk industrial environments throughout the UK

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Clear documentation, full accountability, no jargon

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Support from reactive fault response to long-term strategic planning

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Clear, documented control and safety systems across machines and process units

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Led by Andy Hale, specialist in Siemens, Allen-Bradley and Mitsubishi platforms, with decades of hands-on industrial experience

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We secure OT without stopping production — because we engineered the control systems in the first place

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One prime contract across IT and OT, with a specialist IT partner delivering the IT layer under our accountability

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Cyber Essentials self-certified, with Cyber Essentials Plus audit in progress

THE WIDER ENGINEERING PARTNERSHIP

Once automation, control and safety systems are stable and well-managed, Hale Engineering supports the broader engineering needs of your site as a single, accountable partner:

Risk & compliance

EICR, PAT testing, thermal imaging, emergency lighting certification and electrical compliance consulting. Keeping your site audit-ready and your electrical risk under control.

Maintenance & reliability

planned preventative maintenance, reactive breakdown support, shutdown assistance and long-term reliability improvements.

Engineering consultancy & future-proofing

control system audits, obsolescence assessments, modernisation planning and technical advisory support. Decisions made on evidence, not under pressure.

Rewiring & site upgrades

industrial electrical installations, machine relocations, drives, motors, lighting and energy efficiency upgrades as your site develops.

OUR PARTNERS

Hale Engineering is a partner of Rockwell Automation — one of the world’s leading industrial automation companies — and Cisco, the global leader in industrial networking and secure connectivity.

The Cisco relationship matters more now than it ever has. Secure industrial networking is the foundation of OT cybersecurity: segmentation, zoning, secure remote access and visibility all depend on getting the network layer right. Rockwell and Cisco jointly define the reference architecture for converged plant-wide networks — and we build to it.

Built for performance. Trusted for results.

We’re proud to be the quiet force behind some of the most critical operations in the UK. From large-scale manufacturers to energy plants and water treatment facilities, our work powers operations that simply can’t afford to go down.

We don’t just solve problems—we prevent them. And that’s why leading names turn to us again and again.