EG Machinery Directive and CE-marking
SP provides advisory services, design and other reviews and analyses, as required by the Machinery Directive and its standards. The following are a selection of our services in connection with the Machinery Directive.
We offer services within the following areas:
- Application of the Machinery Directive
- Machinery control systems, functional safety (SIL, PL categories)
- Requirements specified in standards, e.g. emergency stop functions
- Technical documentation
- Application of standards
- Use of work equipment (AFS 2006:4)
- The New Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC)
- Evaluation (verification, validation) of machinery control systems, including Annex IV machinery
- Support for risk analysis and risk assessment
- Training courses on the Machinery Directive
- Risk analysis and risk assessment of machinery
- Examination of technical documentation
- Evaluation of requirements specified in standards
- Advisory services on / evaluation of conversions
The Machinery Directive
If a machine manufactured after 1st January 1995 is to be legally used, it must be CE-marked and fulfil the requirements of the relevant directives applying to it. The Machinery Directive (98/37/EC or AFS 1994:48) sets out the basic safety and health requirements relating to safety that must be fulfilled by various types of machines before they can be used.
Machines manufactured before 1st January 1995 must meet the requirements set out in AFS 2006:4 (Use of Work Equipment), which also imposes a liability on the owner of the machine to ensure that both CE-marked and non-CE-marked machinery can be used with adequate levels of safety.
In practice
As the Machinery Directive has been drafted with the aim of being applicable to various types of machines and machinery, its requirements are expressed on a general level. In practice, therefore, the manufacturer of a machine etc. applies the requirements of standards applicable to the particular type of machine in order to be able to declare that the machine is safe.
Documentation to provide the proof
Technical documentation is needed in order to show that a machine has been manufactured in accordance with the requirements in the Directive. One of these requirements is that a risk analysis should have been performed.
SP is able to provide advice and assistance in dealing with documentation requirements or preparation of documents.