The UK Conservative Party win last week has finally drawn an end to the ongoing uncertainty created by the Brexit referendum and the dithering that followed the UK Parliament. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has declared that the UK will exit by the end of January 2020. For non-EU manufacturers of machinery, what impact will this…
Read MoreEU Machinery Directive Public Review
If you ship machinery products to the EU the Machinery Directive affects you. You have a chance to contribute to the review of this document.
Read MoreInstructions for Use – the New ISO 20607
Instructions are one of the basic items that users expect to get when they purchase a product, and yet these important documents are often poorly written, badly translated, and incomplete. Key product features are badly described, and information on features, settings and hazards may be absent. All of this despite the fact that the minimum requirements…
Read MoreMore E‑Stop Questions
Here are some more questions I’ve been asked regarding emergency stop requirements. These ones came to me through the IEEE PSES EMC-PSTC Product Compliance Forum mailing list. Primary Sources There are three primary sources for the requirements for emergency stop devices: [1] Safety of machinery — Emergency stop — Principles for design, 3rd Edition. ISO 13850. 2015. [2] Safety of…
Read MoreAre You Ready? WEEE Directive Full Implementation Starts 15-Aug-18
image: Advanced Recycling Machines Many manufacturers selling industrial products into the EU market have come to understand at least one of the environmental protection Directives, RoHS – the “Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances.” In this post, I’m going to be looking at another environmental directive: WEEE – the “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment” Directive (2012/19/EU).…
Read MoreBrexit is such a waste
This morning I read news of the tests that the May Government plans to use when assessing the Brexit deal they are trying to negotiate with the EU. The @CommonsEUexit report on the UK/EU future relationship has just been published. Here are its “key tests” for judging a future deal. Full text of the report here –…
Read MoreCETA in force!
CETA comes into force today, 21-Sep-2017 If you are unfamiliar with CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, this groundbreaking trade agreement between Canada and the European Union will be a game-changer for Canada. Until today, the actual date for implementation of the agreement has been a moving target. There were at least two previous dates announced…
Read MoreMachinery Safety Labels: 3 Top Tools for Effective Warnings
Machinery Safety Labels The third level of the Hierarchy of Controls is Information for Use. Safety Labels are a key part of the Information for Use provided by machine builders to users and are often the only information that many users get to see. This makes the design and placement of the safety labels critical to…
Read MoreSafe Drive Control including Safe Torque Off (STO)
Ed. Note: This article was revised 25-Jul-17 to include information on safe standstill. Safe Drive Control including STO Motor drives are everywhere. From DC variable speed drives and indexing drives, through AC Variable Frequency drives, servo drives and stepper motor drives, the capabilities and the flexibility of these electronic systems has given machine designers unprecedented…
Read MoreHow to do a 13849 – 1 analysis: Complete Reference List
Post updated 2019-07-24. Ed. As promised in previous posts, here is the complete reference list for the series “How to do a 13849 – 1 analysis”! If you have any additional resources you think readers would find helpful, please add them in the comments. Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017 – 2018Acknowledgements: As cited.Some Rights ReservedOriginal content here is published under these license terms: X License Type:Non-commercial, Attribution,…