Machinery Safety Regulations

Security must be implemented from the design and must cover the entire life cycle of a machine: design, construction, testing, installation, adjustment, operation, maintenance and scrapping. The new Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC became effective on December 29th, 2009. It establishes that manufacturers must ensure a minimum standard of safety for machinery and equipment sold within the European Union.

The machines must comply with the basic health and safety requirements, listed in Annex I of the Directive, in order to guarantee a minimum common level of protection and security throughout the European market. Before marketing a new machine manufacturers and their authorized representatives in the EU should:  to ensure that the machine complies, to provide a technical dossier in the case of a justified claim by the Authority, to sign a "Compliance Declaration "and to affix the CE mark.

Very frequently you find yourself in front of constructions based on principles not complying the "safe design". The next step is to take technical security measures. These may include for example the installation of fixed or mobile protections, presence detectors to prevent unexpected start-ups, etc…

The technical security measures should prevent anyone to access or to accidentally get in contact with a dangerous element that involves a risk of personal injury, or reduce the risk taking it in a safe state before the person can get in touch with it.

The shelters can be fixed to limit or keep away from danger, or interlocking movable or adjustable manually or automatically).

The guards can be fixed, to limit your distance from a danger, or movable, or manually or automatically adjustable.