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.
A lifting beam is a rigid lifting accessory, sometimes just a plate with a welded lifting eye, that distributes a load across multiple attachment points.
A collaborative robot, or cobot, is an industrial robot designed to work safely alongside people, using force and load monitoring to detect impacts and maintain safe operation.
A statutory instrument is a form of UK secondary legislation, made under powers granted by an Act of Parliament, that both PUWER and LOLER take the form of.
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.
