How to Ensure Machinery Safety and Compliance

Posted by TUV Rheinland on Mon, Sep 13, 2021 @ 10:15 AM

Today’s product markets are becoming increasingly competitive, and manufacturers must adapt quickly in order to keep up to new demands. This can mean building or purchasing additional facilities, installing new machines, or modifying existing production equipment to increase efficiency or to add new product lines. However, this can mean creating new safety or compliance issues for your company that you may not be aware of.

For example, the CE mark is an important mark for safety in the European Union. It indicates compliance to EU Directives for safety and performance, depending on the type of machinery. The CE mark is applied by the manufacturer, and while the machine itself may be safe, there is no way that the manufacturer could foresee how the machine will be implemented in the end user’s facility. In addition, while many countries use the EU Directives as the basis for their own standards and regulations, there are important variations in requirements that organizations need to be acquainted with.

In the United States, any modifications made to a production line means that the system is no longer the same, and the mark applied by the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) that originally inspected and tested this piece of equipment no longer applies. A field evaluation may fix this problem, but the focus of such inspections usually center on fire and shock hazards and could lack a review of mechanical risks. However, a comprehensive risk assessment could shut down production lines for days, cutting into your profit.

Even if your company already maintains a strong NRTL program, there may be extenuating circumstances. A larger organization could purchase a smaller company and not immediately know how their facility is organized, or what safety processes are in place. There could be a mix of new and old machines in the production line that may not have been assessed for safety.

Corporations and their safety engineers and facility managers are responsible for overseeing this ever changing landscape of safety regulations for new, outdated and modified machinery at the local and global levels. While they may be aware of issues and know their responsibility to protect employees, it may not be clear where to start and some companies need guidance on first steps. When and how often must a machine be tested? Which tests are mandatory, which additional ones make sense? What are the regulatory requirements in the countries and regions where my company operates production sites? What additional operational measures should I take to ensure safe machine workplaces?

Wherever you start in your machinery and electrical safety review, working with an independent testing, inspection, and certification body can help answer these questions for you, quickly decreasing the risk of injury and production shut-downs and increasing employee confidence.

Topics: Industrial Machinery and Facilities