Machinery Safety

Machinery safety requirements

Machinery safety is a concern for suppliers and manufacturing businesses throughout the world, and there are a wide variety of regulations which help to protect people, assets and property from harm. Most manufacturing sites comprise of an array of different machinery assemblies, adding complexity to the process.

What is the EU Machinery Directive?

The EU Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) specifies a number of essential health and safety requirements (EHSR), which are designed to guarantee that any piece of industrial machinery will be safe to use. The requirements cover a wide range of machines and machinery.

To view a list of Annex IV equipment and requirements, download the full EU Machinery Directive document.

Download here

EN ISO 12100 – Hazard & risk analysis

For all products which fall under the scope of the Machinery Directive, a hazard analysis/risk assessment must be carried out.

A risk assessment follows a series of logical steps to identify and examine any potential hazards associated with machinery. This provides information for a risk evaluation, in which a decision is made on the safety of machinery for risks to be reduced where necessary.

The European Norm standard, EN ISO 12100, outlines the hazard analysis/risk assessment procedure as follows:

• Determination of the limits of the machinery
• Hazard identification
• Risk estimation and risk evaluation

EN ISO 12100 also provides guidance on the safety of machinery and the type of documentation required in verifying a risk assessment. 

The Machinery Directive is one of several EU regulations which must be complied with in order to achieve the CE mark. CE Marking is a legal requirement for all products sold within the European Union and demonstrates that the minimum requirements of all applicable directives have been met.