Safety distance is the minimum gap between a person and a hazard, set so the dangerous parts cannot be reached before the machine stops, or at all.
Reach through, over and around guards is covered by EN ISO 13857, while the placement of light curtains and scanners uses the approach-speed method in EN ISO 13855. Knox Thomas offers a free EN ISO 13857 safety distance calculator on its website.
Stop categories, defined in EN 60204-1, describe how a machine’s stop function deals with power and associated machine movements: cut it at once, brake first, or keep it on.
Own-use machinery is equipment a business designs, builds or modifies for use on its own site; the law treats the business as the manufacturer regardless.
Self-certification is the conformity route that lets a manufacturer declare compliance without third-party involvement, available for all machinery not explicitly listed in Annex I of the Machinery Regulation.
For nearly two decades, the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) has been the backbone of machinery safety compliance across Europe.
Introduction Machinery is now software-defined, connected, and increasingly autonomous. The Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 treats software failures as
A question we hear regularly from clients is which assessment do they actually need for their machinery —
Speak to a Knox Thomas engineer about compliance, risk assessment and safeguarding for your machinery.
