Functional safety for machines and plants
The easy, reliable path to a compliant solution: standards and regulations
It is the objective of safety technology to minimize, as much as possible, the hazards created by technical facilities for people and the environment, while restricting the scope of industrial production (machine availability) to the least possible degree. There are different concepts and requirements in the various regions and countries of the world when it comes to ensuring the appropriate degree of machine safety. This document provides advice on making the best use of standards and regulations.
Mandatory in Europe, employed worldwide: safe machines
European machine manufacturers (product safety) and machine operators (industrial safety) are required by law to ensure the protection of persons and the environment. The EU, for example, imposes requirements governed by European directives, laws, and standards on both facility manufacturers and operators. In the U.S., on the other hand, requirements may differ at a regional or even a local level. It is important for machine manufacturers and plant constructors to note that the laws and regulations of the location where the machine or plant is operated apply in all cases.
European standards and directives
Machines “provided” in Europe have to be safe – whether they are sold new or used. In this context, the term “provision” implies that the machine is manufactured or significantly modified in Europe – or is imported to and operated in Europe.
The basic requirements for machine manufacturers or system operators who significantly modernize and modify their machines themselves are laid down in corresponding European directives – in the Machinery Directive and EMC Directive, for example.
CE mark
The CE conformity process according to the Machinery Directive is structured in a number of phases and describes individual activities that must be performed before the CE mark is applied.
Harmonized European standards
Harmonized European standards are developed by the two standardization bodies CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation) and CENELEC (Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique) on behalf of the European Commission to specify the requirements imposed on a given product by the EU directives.
Implementation
Your path to optimum machine safety
Once you are familiar with the applicable standards and regulations for machine safety, the next step is to put them into practice. With the TÜV-tested Safety Evaluation Tool for standards IEC 62061 and ISO 13849-1, you can evaluate your machines’ safety functions quickly and easily.