Safety requirements of the Machinery Regulation

Risk assessment is the real application of the Machines regulation. Admittedly, readers may be put off by the sheer number of risks covered by the regulation. Yet such an exhaustive approach is not without foundation. The authors of the Machinery Directive had chosen to identify all the proven risks in the world of machinery and to transcribe them into the text. Whether intentionally or not, the authors of the Machinery Regulation have followed the same logic.

In accordance with the letter of the regulation, the manufacturer :

"a) determines the limits of the machine or related product, including their normal use and any reasonably foreseeable misuse;

b) identifies the hazards that may arise from the machine or related product and the associated dangerous situations;

c) estimate the risks,...