Almost every machine Mecelec Design Ltd builds is unique in terms of design and function. This in itself is hard enough to achieve successfully, but when you add in the legal requirement to ensure the machine complies with all the current safety regulations, it can be a real nightmare, especially when considering the wide range of projects supported.
To ensure all our machines comply with the current safety regulations, we have put in place safety systems and company procedures which follow the requirements of the Risk Assessment Standard detailed within ISO 12100:2010.
In the early stages of machine design the project team will meet and discuss the requirements for both operational and safety requirements that are central to the safe use of the equipment in question.
Implementing the following procedures on every machine, whether large or small, ensures commonality, which enables us to ensure we are providing a real safety system which will ensure the delivery of a safe and reliable machine to our client.
The evaluation process in overview:
- Identify hazards within the proposed design.
- Eliminate risks and hazards within the proposed design, e.g. fixed guarding
- Define safety functions for those hazards that cannot be eliminated.
- Determine the required performance level of the required safety functions using a risk graph.
Once the performance level has been calculated, appropriate safety systems can be designed and scrutinised using ISO 13849-1 as the basis of the evaluation procedure.
Subsequent reports generated by following ISO 13849-1 and ISO 12100 risk assessment procedures are maintained as part of the technical construction file for the life of the machine and form part of the paper trail leading to the award of CE conformity.