Machinery Risk Assessment
Risk assessments; we all do them. Crossing a road, driving a car etc. However, these are done dynamically, 'on the fly'. We do not record them.
Machine risk assessments must be undertaken at many stages of a machine's life. They must be carried out by the manufacturer as part of the design, build and CE marking of the machine, to show risks have been considered at the supply point; however the user is also required to carry them out, to show they are safe for their operators to use on their site. The machine manufacturer may not know where their machine will eventually end up, or how it will be used...
Several pieces of UK legislation call for risk assessments to be carried out; the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations, are two examples.
These regulations require the risk assessments to consider all the possible hazards, and the corresponding risks from these hazards. The vast majority of these risk assessments have to legally be recorded; they are proof they have been carried out, with the rationale justifying the findings. They shall be completed by someone who is competent to do so, and follow a determined methodology.
There is an international standard, (EN ISO 12100:2010 - Safety of machinery - general principles for design. Risk assessment and risk reduction); this considers the steps that should be followed to ensure risk assessments are done systematically. Abbey's risk assessment process is fully compliant with this standard.
Abbey's consultants have many years experience in carrying out machine risk assessments, for both design (or supply), and use. Our methodology clearly identifies each hazard (mechanical, electrical, noise, thermal, inadequate safety-related control system etc) on a machine, with the corresponding risk from that hazard. The risk assessments cover all modes of the equipment, with the use of images and photographs, and give a numerical evaluation of each hazard. This makes it easy to identify the order in which hazards should be addressed.
If required, Abbey can also provide recommendations and concepts for possible or potential risk reduction measures to improve the safety of the machine being assessed, and to ensure compliance with regulations. Should a new safety-related control function or system be recommended, Abbey will provide a performance level determination for the new function or system, as required by EN ISO 13849-1 - Safety of machinery - Safety-related parts of control systems Part 1: General principles for design.