The role of an Authorized Representative (AR) under the EU CE Marking scheme is frequently misunderstood. This comes about primarily because the EU Blue Guide [1], Machinery Directive [2], Machinery Regulation [3], Low Voltage [4], and EMC [5] Directives do not explicitly state that manufacturers must* have an AR. Remember that the Blue Guide and…
Read MoreThe new EU Machinery Safety Regulation is coming. Are you ready?
On 2023-06-14, the EU passed the new Machinery Safety Regulation. The new Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 2023-06-29 [1]. This legislation repeals the 2006/42/EC Machinery Directive, just not right away.
Read More❌ ISO 13849-1:2023 – Do Not Use ❌
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…
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