This month I have some news about useful guidance on the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) website. The first item relates to CE marking assemblies of machinery and will be of interest to machine builders linking two or more machines that operate together. There is also some helpful information about what to do when adding a new machine to an existing assembly.

The second item concerns the health and safety cost recovery scheme, as the HSE has confirmed that this will come into operation in October 2012, subject to Parliamentary approval. The Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme enables costs to be recovered from those organisations that have broken health and safety laws; when the HSE has to expend time and effort investigating and taking enforcement action, it will be the offender that pays for this, rather than taxpayers. In preparation for its introduction, the HSE has published new guidance that explains how the FFI scheme will operate, with examples of how it would be applied.

Still on the subject of machinery safety, when I attended the recent Machinery Safety Alliance seminar, it was clear that some machine builders are still working to EN 954-1, even though it has been superseded. Towards the end of this newsletter there is a link to an article that explains how to migrate from EN 954-1 to EN ISO 13849-1 or EN 62061.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

New range of noise-reduction components
MiniTec is launching noise-reduction panels and seals that enable acoustic enclosures to be constructed from its aluminium profile structural framing system. More?

New ultrafast 4-channel Gigabit PoE embedded vision system
Stemmer Imaging’s ADLINK EOS-1200 vision system combines powerful computing with multi-channel connectivity for automation, robot guidance and 3D vision. More?

SKF Xtra Power Belts transmit up to 40 per cent more power
SKF says its new Xtra Power Belts transmit up to 40 per cent more power than standard wrapped belts, plus they are more efficient and last longer. More?

HMI devices for graphic-intensive applications
Phoenix Contact is introducing the TP 5000 series HMIs that benefit from Intel Atom 1.6GHz processors and extensive connectivity. More?

Comprehensive hinge range and white paper from Elesa
Elesa is expanding its range of plastic, metal and stainless steel hinges, plus it has published a white paper 'Guidelines for the Application of Plastic Hinges'. More?

EVENTS

TUV SUD launches Machinery Safety Roadshows
The Laidler Associates business has now been integrated fully within TUV SUD Product Service, which is running Machinery Safety Roadshows in September. More?

PPMA Show 2012 to feature Manufacturing Forum seminars
This year's event will include a programme of seminars covering a wide range of topics of interest to machine builders and system integrators. More?

SPONSORED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Cable harnesses designed and manufactured to order
Sensor-Technik UK provides a cable harness design, prototyping and manufacturing service for control and measurement systems. More?

Modular sealing concept enhances pneumatic cylinders
Rexroth's Modular Sealing Concept for pneumatic cylinders enables a seal and scraper module to be matched to the application requirements. More?

EtherCAT and DeviceNet modules for configurable safety relays
Pilz is launching an EtherCAT 2 fieldbus module for its PNOZmulti software-configurable safety relays and a DeviceNet module for its PNOZmulti Mini. More?

Festo launches online forum for automation engineers
A new Festo Support Community enables automation engineers and machine builders to engage in online conversations with Festo experts and fellow engineers. More?

USB thermal imagers detect even smaller changes in temperature
New additions to Micro-Epsilon's low-cost range of thermoIMAGER thermal imagers offer higher image resolution and an exceptional sensitivity of just 40mK. More?

DAILY DILBERT

Conspiracy and innovation
This week the CEO is found out, Wally succeeds in narrowing the pay gap, and Dilbert tells the pointy-haired boss to stop smothering innovation - with inevitable results. More?

USEFUL RESOURCE

How to migrate from EN 954-1 to EN ISO 13849-1 or EN 62061
Machine builders still working to the superseded EN 954-1 should read this updated article about how to migrate to one of the functional safety standards. More?

Jonathan Severn
Editor

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