The modernisation of industrial production cells or the construction of new series machines is often a strategic decision in order to remain competitive. The targeted use of automation technology can increase work cycles, improve product quality and even reduce energy costs. However, plant safety must not be neglected when realising high plant availability. Operators of production cells and manufacturers of machines must therefore fulfil the requirements of functional safety for set-up, manual activities, fault clearance, repair and maintenance work in which humans and machines interact.
Due to the increasing use of machines, the proportion in the "machine and tool accidents" category is already very high. 47% of accidents in this category are already attributable to activities involving machines. The proportion of fatal accidents is as high as 90%. Depending on the respective area of application, malfunctions and incorrect actions that endanger people must therefore be analysed and eliminated by means of suitable design measures.
At European level, the legislator has issued regulations in the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, which can be used to minimise potential hazards and also implement the requirements of occupational and product safety.
For the design of automated safety systems (e.g. emergency stop, light curtains, door monitoring, overload devices), the state of the art in machine technology is defined by the safety standards DIN ISO 13849 and DIN EN 62061.
One of our essential tasks is to support machine manufacturers in implementing the requirements in accordance with the relevant directives and standards. As a notified test centre accredited by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS), TÜV NORD offers comprehensive testing and certification of machinery and safety components in accordance with the Machinery Directive and the safety standards DIN ISO 13849, DIN EN 62061:
On the one hand, the focus is on compliance with basic health and safety requirements, which must be declared legally binding by the manufacturer. On the other hand, the legal requirements must be fulfilled in order to bring systems and machines onto the market or operate them in a legally compliant manner.
The requirements and options for implementing functional safety are defined in the specified standards EN ISO 13849-1/-2 and EN 62061. EN ISO 13849-1 describes the performance level (PL a to PL e) for the classification of safety-related availability. EN 62061 is the customised implementation of IEC/EN 61508 for the requirements for machines and classifies the safety-related availability in Safety Integrity Level (SIL 1 to SIL 3).
Please feel free to contact us to clarify any further questions and to put together a range of services tailored to your needs. We look forward to hearing from you and to a successful co-operation.
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