overview on hs andoverview on hs and safe use of machinery safe use of machinery

Human Safety in Food Processing -752317 SS2015

Overview on Human Safety and Safe Use of Machinery, Machinery Directive, Safeguard

Establishment Strategies and Techniques

Anamaria DAVID - 1441694

Erasmus student. Safety in Food Chain programe, University of Natural Resources and Life

Sciences, Vienna, Austria.

Food Quality Management, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of

Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Abstract

Machinery safety is an important issue that every company is dealing with everyday, starting

with the equipment manufacturing companies and finishing with workers working with

machinery. The aim of this study is to introduce machinery safety and provide short

information about the directives and regultations regarding safe use of machinery. Because is

a moral obligation to avoid harming anyone, there are legislative acts that require the safety of

the machines, and providing economic reasons for reducing accidents to zero. Safety of the

machinery should be taken into consideration from the early design stage and must not be

forgotten trough all stages in the life of a machine: design, manufacture, installation,

adjustment, operation, maintenance and eventual scrapping.(Schneider Electric Safe

Machinery Handbook, 2009) A risk assesment should be carried out in order to be able to

design a safe machinery taking into account all European Dirrectives and EC standards. This

study is a quick overview which relies on Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) and also on the

set of harmonised standards which are based on this directive. Directive 2006/42/EC is a

critical one for manufacturing and using the machinery, and without respecting this law, the

machineries are not allowed to be on the European market.

Keywords: Human safety, machinery, directive, work, equipment, risk.

Introduction

This overview research is based on principles establised in european law instruments relevant

for the protection of every workers safety and health. It is meant to provide a short preview

on safety and health in the use of machinery in the workplace as it is stated in the European

standards and directives. In the beging of this study will be presented the legal framework for

safe use of machinery, risk assesment, as well as the general obligations, responsibilities and

duties of the designers, manufacturing companies, employers and employees, and presenting


the technical requirements and specific measures that should be taken in order to protect

workers safety and health.

2. Legal framework

The most important law regarding machinery in Europe is the Directive 2006/42/EC of the

European Parliament and the Council (Machinery Directive EN60204) which harmonizes the

legislation of the member countries and where are stated all the requirements that member

states should ensure. Based on this directive there is a list of standards, which have the role to

provide the readers with an overall framework and guidance for decisions during the entire

lifecycle of machinery and to enable them to maintain machines safe for their intended use.

There are 3 types of standards each one for a specific matter regarding machinery. The entire

list of standards can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/european-

standards/harmonised-standards/machinery/index_en.htm. Depending on the activity of the

company (machinery manufacturer or company using machinery) there are also national

regulations which have to be implemented and respected. The European legislation that

contains conditions for the placing on the EU internal market machines consists of Directive

2006/42/EC which was subsequently amended by Directive 2009/127/EC. This amendment to

the Machinery Directive it is supposed to contribute to the protection of the environment and

human health. (Directive 2009/127/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

amending Directive 2006/42/EC with regard to machinery for pesticide application, 21

October 2009). Another important legislative act is Directive 2009/104/EC, on the use of

work equipment, recoded version of Directive 89/655/EEC (UWED) and its successive

amendments. This applies since the term "work equipment" includes machinery (and any

parts of machinery, tools or installation used at work) and contains minimum requirements

concerning the characteristics required such as to ensure adequate protection and maintenance

of health state of workers. All European Union countries enact their own form of legislation

to implement these Directives. A harmonized European (EN) Standard is listed in the Official

Journal of the European Union (OJ) under the Machinery Directive, these standards are being

however not legally required, but their use is strongly recommended since proving conformity

by alternative methods can be an extremely complex issue. These standards support the

Machinery Directive and are produced by CEN (the European Committee for Standardization)

in cooperation with ISO, and CENELEC (the European Committee for Electrotechnical

Standardization) in cooperation with IEC. So if a manufacturer wishes to put his machinery

on the european market he should prove that all the essential health and safety requirements

were respected. Industrial security has grown in importance in recent years - as such, the

current Directive 2006/42/EC provides a detailed list of safety components, part of these

logical components to ensure safety functions, emergency stop devices, devices to prevent

slips/falls from height, speed limitation devices, mechanical shock absorbing devices and

optoelectronic components for security. Low Voltage Directive (LVD) Low Voltage Directive

(LVD) 2006/95/EC deals with electrical powered equipment designed to operate at a nominal

voltage between 50 to 1000VAC and between 75 to 1500VDC. In general, standard

equipment falling under the LVD are household (EN60335 standards), IT equipment (SR

EN60950-1) and measuring and control equipment for laboratories (SR EN61010-1). The

main differences between LVD and the new Machinery Directive refers to moving parts and

the risk of injury associated classification. These risks are more serious and rigurous treated

by MD than LVD Directive. As regards the main risks, the new Machinery Directive

removes the "gray area" that exists between the two European Directives. Now there are


clearly defined six categories of electrical machines which are excluded from the scope of the

Machinery Directive and which fall under the LVD: electrical household appliances, audio/

video equipment, IT equipment, office equipment, control devices and low voltage switchgear

and motors plants. SR EN 60204-1 standard is the most useful for assessing the conformity of

industrial machinery punch of view of electrical safety.

3. Risk assessment

In order for a machine or other equipment to be made safe, it is necessary to assess the risks

that can result from its use. Risk assessment for machinery is characterized in BS EN ISO

14121-1. Risk assessment is the first step in preventing work accidents and occupational

diseases and consists in identifying existing hazards to workplaces and risk quantification.

Risk assessment is a systematic examination of the risks of all components of the work

process: work equipment and materials, work environment, workers, the workload. Follow-up

the evaluation results: existance of risks on workplaces, what risks can be eliminated, what

protective measures have to be taken to prevent and control to keep the risks that can not be

removed or reduced, ensuring management thereof. In order to assess the risks there are some

steps that have to taken into account, like identifying the restraints of the machinery: what are

the speeds, the loads, the substances that might be involved, what is the expected life of the

machinery and its application, identifying the hazards: what parts of the machinery could

cause harm to a person, considering the possibillity of entrapping, crushing, cutting from

tools, sharp edges. Examples of typical hazards are presented more detailled in BS EN ISO

14121-1. After hazards have been identified it has to be determined who might be harmed by

these risks, taking into consideration who gets in contact with the machine, what are the

reasons for interacting with the machine, covering also the possibillity of using the machine

by people who are untrained, and other persons who might be present on the workplace, not

only machine operators, but cleaners, security staff, visitors and members of the

public.(Schneider Electric Safe Machinery Handbook, 2009) Further the risks should be

prioritised according to their gravity, the so called risk estimation as it is described in BS

EN ISO 14121-1. It is hard to estimate the potential harm, given the possibility that every

accident can be fatal. All possible repercusions should be considered, not only the worst

scenario. In general, it is recomended thatif there are risks that have the posibility to be

reduced, to be diminished. The risk reduction requirements can be found in BS EN ISO

12100-2. The concept of 'danger zone' makes possible localization of spaces in which people

can be exposed to hazards. For example, if there are risks involving contact with moving parts

of work equipment, dangerous area is restricted to the vicinity of dangerous parts of

machinery. For other risks, such as risk of being hit by objects ejected from the work

equipment or risk caused by exposure to noise or dangerous substances used or ejected from

the equipment, hazardous area may include significant areas where the environment

equipment is working. One of the most effective methods of risk prevention is the design of

machinery so as to avoid the need for people to enter the danger areas. This part will be

discussed below in Safe design and safeguarding.


4. Safe design and safeguarding

As it was mentioned before, the safe use of the machinery starts with its design, inherently

safe design measures are presented in BS EN 12100-2, clause 4. Safe design and safeguarding

are designers responsability. Of course, they cannot deisgn a safe machinery right from the

begining without a risk assessment process carried out not only by the designers but also by

an entire team formed from: designers, engineers, workers, managers. Usually the best way to

design a safe machinery is to improve an existing one. As it was stated before for a proper

designing of the machinery there have to be identified the hazards that can occur. Hazards can

differ from machine to machine, some of them can be specific for a precise industry, includes

the material with which the machinery works and also takes into account who is dealing with

the machine. Typical categories of hazards dealing with machineries include: mechanical

hazards (cutting, shearing, trapping, impact, friction, hit by mobile machinery), electrical

hazards, thermal hazards, noise and vibration hazards, radiation hazards, exposure to

hazardeous materials and substances, ergonomic hazards, visibility, slips, trips and falls

hazards, work environment hazards. Experience shows that protective measures built into the

design are more likely to remain effective even where well designed safeguarding fails or is

vulnerable to error or the failure to follow safe use information. (Best Practice Guidelines for

the Safe Use of Machinery, 2013) Where improving safe design is not aplicable, the other

accepted method is safeguarding. This measure can include, for example, fixed guarding,

interlocked guarding, presence sensing to prevent unexpected start-up, etc. Safe design of

machinery has become an increasingly serious problem treated in the past decade, and the

new Machinery Directive provides a detailed list of 17 security components specified in

Annex V. The current Machinery Directive specifies only five security components in Section

B of Annex IV. For a clearer picture regarding the new list of safety components, here are

presented some of them: logical components to ensure safety functions; emergency stop

devices; doors/ gates with lock; devices to prevent slips/ falls from height; speed-limiting

equipment; devices to absorb shocks; security optoelectronic components. Safeguards should

block peaple to get in contact with specific hazards, or at least to reduce the risks to a

minimum level. Usualy, safeguards are defined as a physical barrier between the workers

and the dangerous parts of machinery or plant( Best Practice Guidelines for the Safe Use of

Machinery, 2013) The most common categories of guards are: fixed guards, interlocked

guards, adjustable guards and self-adjusting guards. Depending on the hazard that can occur

and the possibility to avoid it one or more types of these guards can be used. In industry the

most used type of guards are the fixed ones because they are simplier and effective. Behind

the advantages that these guards provide, they also have their limitations (disadvatages) for

example: it could interfere with visibility (fixed ones), can only be applicable for specific

operations and others, but of course when taking into consideration designing safeguards the

main objective should be the safety of the people involved with the machinery.

5. General responsabilities of employers

Regarding the employers, first of all they should ensure that all the machineries that are used

in their company are according to the law. They should buy only new machineries from

certified suppliers, and each equipment should be marked with CE mark, proving that all


Essential Health and Safety requirements from all the directives are met. They are allowed to

buy also second-hand machinery, but first they have to perform a risk assessment to prove

that the equipment is safe and suitable for use. Furthermore, employers togher with workers

and managment of the company should provide the OSH policy, which should be

communicated to all persons from the company. Also, the employer should provide that safe

and conformity of the machinery is kept during all stages, hiring specialist for maintance of

the equipment and training the workers who get in contact with the machinery. Employers

should hire only trained personnel to work with the machinery, training them and assuring

good working conditions, to avoid any danger that could arise from improper using of the

machinery. Directive 89/391/EEC on safety and health of workers at work is known as the

'Framework Directive', as it establishes the basic obligations of employers and workers on

safety and health at work and provides the framework for a series of specific directives

dealing with specific aspects of health and safety hazards.

6. Workers responsabillities

Because workers are an important part of the use of the machinery they should always follow

safe working methods as instructed by their employers. Workers should take all prudent steps

to eliminate or to reduce the risks to minimum levels, for themselves and for others resulting

from their use of machinery at work. Furthermore they should have the right to be consulted

before decisions are taken on issues relevant to safety in the use of machinery at the

workplace and to be involved in risk assessment and the implementation and review of risk

control measures and have the time and resources to do so. (Ocupational health and safety

risks in the healthcare sector, 2013)

7. Cooperation

Because in the safety and health in the use of machinery are envolved many participants, they

should colaborate. The competent authority, designers, manufacturers and suppliers of

machinery, employers and workers and their representatives should cooperate in a

constructive manner to ensure that the all the requirements for safety and health in the use of

machinery are met. Starting with the designers and continuing with suppliers, employers and

employees all should respect their obligations for a safe use of the machinery during its whole

life cycle, and also to colaborate for future improvements of the equipment.

8. Steps in marking a machinery with CE mark

CE marking is a critical indicator of a machinery's compliance with EU legislation and ensure

free movement of it on the European market. By applying the CE marking on the machinery,

the manufacturer declares on its own responsibility that the product complies with all legal

requirements on obtaining the CE marking and therefore ensuring the conformity of the

product for sale on the European Economic Area (EEA: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland,

Norway and Liechtenstein) and Turkey. These conditions are valid also for machineries

manufactured in third countries, which will be sold in the EEA and Turkey. First step is to

identify the directives and harmonised set of standards applicable for machinery. These

legislative acts are preseted above in Legal framework chapter. Second step is verifying the


requirements of the product by the manufacturer. He has the responsability to assure that the

machinery was manufactured according to the legislation and complies with all the Essential

Health and Safety requirements from all the directives that apply to it. Than, a Notified Body

conducts an evaluation/inspection to check if the machinery complies with all regulations in

cause and as a part of this step is evaluation of risks, which has to be satissfied if the legal

requirements from the Directives have been respected. Fith step is drafting and providing the

mandatory tachnical documenation. Manufacturer has to provide the technical documentation

required by the Directive for assessing the conformity of the product with the relevant

requirements, and to estimate risks. Together with the declaration of conformity, the technical

documentation must be presented to the relevant national authorities. The final step is

applying CE mark on the machinery. The CE marking is affixed by the manufacturer or his

authorized representative in the EEA. It must be applied directly on the machinery or its data

plate, in a visible, legible and indelible way, according to the legal format. If a Notified Body

was involved in the production or control phase, its identification number must also be

mentioned. The manufacturer is responsible for issuing and signing a " CE Declaration of

Conformity" as proof that the product meets the all the requirements. (Guide to Application of

the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, 2010).

9. Conformity Assessment Procedures and Market supervision

Currently, a manufacturer can certify the compliance of the machinery manufactured, this

requirement is stated in the new Machinery Directive. Annex IV of this Directive provides a

list of categories of machinery that must conform to certain conformity assessment

procedures. According to the new Directive, manufacturers have the choice of several types of

procedures, namely:

- If the machine is designed in accordance with harmonized standards and meet the

requirements of the Directive, the manufacturer can certify it;

- For machines listed in Annex IV, the manufacturer has the choice between a call to an

assessment by a Notified Body (NB) or appeal the approval of its own quality assurance

system by a Notified Body;

It is important to note that under the new directive, EU members should constantly and

periodically evaluate their Notified Bodies. If an NO does not meet the accreditation criteria,

the Member State may withdraw its accreditation. Another way of quality assurance system

approval for machinery manufacturers listed in Annex IV, as it is indicated in Annex X, adds

certification options for those manufacturers which will allow the period of time necessary for

the introduction of machinery into the EU market to decrease.

In the new Machinery Directive, EU Member States have clearly defined their responsibilities

with regard to market surveillance. These measures and requirements are inspired from

General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC, which refers to the security and health of

consumers. These laws use a systemic approach for the market surveillance process with the

clear purpose of encouraging cooperation between the EU authorities and to ensure a high

level of consumer protection. Duties include cooperation with authorities for market


surveillance and privacy and transparency as essential requirements. Such a framework of

rules has on one hand been designed to help manufacturers remain competitive in the market

and on the other to maintain the neutrality of EU Member States in the conformity assessment

process.

Conclusion

Directive 2006/42/EC is a revision of the Machinery Directive whose first version was

adopted in 1989. The new MD is applicable since 29 December 2009. The Directive has a

double objective to harmonize security and safe requirements for using the machineries, while

ensuring the free movement of them on the EU market. According to the regulations all

machineries that are put on the European Market should be affixed with CE mark and should

met all the requirements from the specific directives and set of harmonised standards. The

safe of machinery has to be taken into account right from the start, from the designing stage,

designers and manufacturers should follow the european legislation in order to provide safe

machinery. All the requirements that they have to accomplish are stated in the Directives and

European Standards than have been shortly presented above. For the safe use of the

machinery are responsible also all persons who get in contact with it, also the employers,

workers, maintanace personell and others. Each one has its own responsability and obligation

to ensure a safe use of the machinery. Todaay, taking into account all the legislative acts that

have been issued for the safe of the machinery the risks of accidents have been reduced to

minimum level, but even so, it is not eliminated. This is why, there is always place for

improvements considering the improvment of the machinery design and perfoming new

actions to increase the safe use of machinery.

References

2003. Global strategy on occupational safety and health, conclusions adopted by the

International Labour Conference (Geneva)

2001. ISO 14122, Safety of machinery Permanent means of access to machinery.

2006. Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

2002. ISO 14120, Safety of machinery Guards General requirements for the design and

construction of fixed and movable guards.

2009. Schneider Electric. Safe use of Machinery Handbook.

2010. ISO 12100, Safety of machinery General principles for design Risk assessment and

risk reduction.


2010. European Commission, Enterprise and Industry. Guide to application of the Machinery

Directive 2006/42/EC (second edition).

2013. European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity Progress.

Occupational health and safety risks in the healthcare sector. Guide to prevention and good

practice.

2013. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment of Australia, Best Practice

Guidelines for the Safe Use of Machinery.

overview on hs andoverview on hs and safe use of machinery safe use of machinery

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