Safety/Social-Economic/Environmental Consultant/IT Specialist at Rwenzo-Green Associates
Implementation of safety measures by the user of machinery and work equipment Based on the information for use provided by the designer, the machine user should implement safety measures for reducing residual risk that remains despite inherent safe design measures, safeguarding and complementary protective measures adopted. User obligations for additional safeguards, personal protective equipment, work organisation and training were formulated in Directive 2009/104/EC[8]. The main obligation consists in taking measures necessary to ensure that the work equipment is suitable for the work to be carried out. If necessary, work equipment should be properly adapted to the work in such a way that workers can use it without impairment to their safety or health. Additional safeguarding The employer should ensure that work equipment is installed, located and used in a way ensuring that the risks to the operators and other workers have been reduced. In particular, sufficient space between moving parts of work equipment and fixed or moving parts should be allowed. Very often, the application of additional safeguarding is necessary, which might result from a particular location or way of machine installation. In such a case, the application of fixed guards should be considered first. However, if for technological reasons access to danger zones is required, movable guards or protective devices should be applied. The same rules as those formulated for the machinery manufacturer apply when installing additional safeguards. Inspection of work equipment Long-term results of using a machine usually consist in constant degradation of its sub-assemblies, due to both material deterioration and mechanical wear. The aforementioned phenomena, if not investigated in a proper way, may cause machine failure. If safety-related elements fail, accidents may happen. Therefore, work equipment should be periodically inspected. The frequency and scope of the inspection should be determined based on the manufacturer’s information enclosed in the “Information for use". One should also consider the intensity of machine exploitation and the risk level arising in operation of the machine. In individual cases of machines with high-risk levels, the frequency of inspection is specified in Directive 2009/104/EC which specifies the following types of inspection: initial inspection (after installation and before first being put into service) and an inspection after assembly at a new site or in a new location periodic inspections and, where appropriate, testing within the means of national laws and/or practices special inspections each time exceptional circumstances that are liable to jeopardise the safety of the work equipment have occurred, such as work modification, accidents, natural phenomena or prolonged periods of inactivity. #safetyfirst #EISA #PPE
