BARA, the British Automation and Robotics Association, is organising a Machine Safety Conference to be held at Bletchley Park on 21 June 2007. Attendees will be afforded a comprehensive overview of machinery safety issues in the light of current and forthcoming standards, and will learn about their practical application through case studies. Delegates will also have the opportunity to discuss technologies and applications with organisations participating in the seminars and to browse the integrated exhibition. Afterwards, there will also be a tour of the historic Enigma codebreaking site.
The conference is aimed at specifiers and designers of machinery and safety-related electrical control systems (SRECS), together with managers and engineers responsible for machinery safety. There will be a focus on machine safety standards, providing a timely update, highlighting forthcoming changes. This will be followed by presentations looking at the practical application of the standards, illustrated with case studies. Speakers are to be confirmed shortly, but the previous conference attracted several speakers from the HSE (Health and Safety Executive), leading automation companies and system integrators.
Dr Richard Piggin, Chairman of BARA's Safety SIG (Special Interest Group), comments: "Feedback from previous safety conferences has been extremely positive, with attendees gaining an excellent insight into what is really involved with projects where functional safety has to be addressed. Functional safety is central to EN IEC 61508, EN IEC 62061, and the forthcoming IEC 61784-3 standard for safety networks. However, many machine builders, system integrators and end-users are not familiar with the concept. The same individuals may be surprised to learn that similar concepts will supersede EN 954-1 when it is replaced with EN ISO 13849-1."
After the conference, delegates will also have an opportunity to take part in a guided tour of the historic site of secret British codebreaking activities during WWII and the birthplace of the modern computer. Rebuilding of a fully functioning Turing Bombe, the machine used to crack the Enigma codes, is complete and is now undergoing commissioning prior to being officially opened by the British Computer Society in July 2007. Delegates will be amongst the first to see the working forerunner of today's computer that was kept secret for nearly 50 years.
Contact Doug Devlin on +44 (0)1922 644766 to register your interest in the conference or to obtain information on exhibition opportunities. Further details are on BARA's website at www.bara.org.uk.
MachineBuilding.net is co-sponsoring the event, together with Drives & Controls, the HSE, IET, IMechE and Laidler Associates.
