The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is a European directive that ensures the free movement of machines within the European market, guaranteeing the minimum level of protection for the health and safety of operators.
The Directive provides the criteria, referring to other standards, to achieve compliance.
The method for assessing and reducing risks is described in EN ISO 12100, which provides the principles and procedures for achieving safety in the design of the machinery.
Specific parameters that the machine manufacturer must respect to achieve this have been established :
- Construction of the safety system according to the risk level
- Reliability of the safety system
- The ability of the system to recognise and rectify faults
- Selection and sizing of components
The machine manufacturer's task is to examine the essential operation of their machine, identify the risks, attempt to minimise them through physical safety devices or unavoidable barriers, and adequately choose the components of the safety system and the installation layout.
A series of harmonised standards have been issued to guarantee the adequacy and safety of the solutions adopted, including ISO 13849-1, which establishes the safety requirements and guidelines on the design and integration of parts of control systems that relate to safety functions (SRP/CS).