This is a first On Thursday, 2023-04-27, ISO published ISO 13849-1:2023, the 4th edition of the dominant functional safety standard for machinery. Usually, I would be the first to tell you that you should buy the standard as quickly as possible and start using it immediately. Today is not a normal day. As Command Module…
Read MoreUnderstanding safety functions: Safe speed and safe standstill
In this post, I’ll discuss two safety-related parameters: safe speed and safe standstill. Speed control is a very common machine function. Conveyors, mixers, pumps, and many other applications rely on variable-speed drives. Some speed parameters are also safety-related because variations in speed can increase the risk to workers. See this post for more information on…
Read MoreBrexit's impact
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…
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