BARA reports 'full house' for machine safety conference

Steve Shaw of the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) opened the conference with a tutorial on Risk Assessment and Safety Integrity Level (SIL) assignment, as well as providing a view on the current standards situation. He discussed EN 945-1, IEC 62061, EN ISO 13849-1 and the impact of IEC 61508. Steve Shaw was most willing to field questions from the floor, giving on-the-spot responses that clarified particular issues and enabled delegates to leave with a much better understanding of the HSE's position on a wide range of matters.

Philip Parry, also from the HSE, then presented a paper on functional safety and power drive systems for safety-related applications. He focused on the first product standard (currently draft) based upon the principles of IEC 61508, namely IEC 61800-5-2, Adjustable Speed Electrical Power Drives Systems. During the lively discussion that followed, he answered several questions relating to implementation of safety-related control of drives.

Robot cell

Paul Laidler (of Laidler Associates - the event sponsor) and Steve Allen (Procter Machine Guarding) undertook a well received double act, showing project management of safety on a robotic cell, including CE marking and guarding.

The remainder of the day featured case studies, demonstrating a variety of applications utilising safety-related networking technologies.

Stephen Langley (ISS Safety) used a robotic application to illustrate the benefits of a Rockwell safety PLC and combining safety and standard I/O on a single DeviceNet network by means of CIP Safety. Stephen comments: "The conference organisers should congratulate themselves on organising a well balanced conference that provided delegates with information on the development and application of new machine safety standards."

Seb Strutt (Sick UK) provided eagerly received advice on applying different networking technologies to a safety-related application, showing different potential architectures and giving his assessment of the pros and cons of each. This prompted a very lively debate, setting the scene for the panel session and some controversial questions.

Stewart Robinson (Pilz Automation Technology) gave an overview of current network safety technologies, and presented a forthcoming alternative - SafetyNet p, the Ethernet successor to SafetyBUS p.

AS-i Safety at Work

Peter Cheetham (Sigmapi Systems) went on to present an overview of AS-Interface Safety at Work (AsiSafe) technology, illustrating application examples. He says: "Sigmapi Systems, representing the AS-interface Expert Alliance, found it an excellent conference for academics and industrialists to share expertise, problems and new solutions."

Finally, Mike Golding (Fortress Interlocks) discussed the convergence of interlock technology, showing new technology in robot applications, with options for safety networking.

Jon Severn, the editor of MachineBuilding.net, comments: "I found the event very informative, and it was useful to hear about not just current (and newly introduced) standards, but also forthcoming standards. The mixture of presentations relating directly to standards and those based on case studies worked extremely well, and the tabletop exhibition alongside the conference provided an excellent opportunity to meet the presenters and see some of the latest machinery safety products."

Turing Bombe

Afterwards, nearly all of the delegates and speakers took the opportunity of a guided tour of the Bletchley Park code breaking site, and the birthplace of the modern computer. They were among the first to see a fully working, rebuilt Turing Bombe - the machine that was used to crack the Enigma codes. The Bombe (see photo), which remained a secret for almost 50 years, has just been commissioned. On 17 July 2007, to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the British Computer Society, the Bombe Rebuild was switched on after 12 years of meticulous reconstruction.

Following the success of the Machinery Safety Conference series and the continued high level of interest shown in the subject of standards and safety-related networking, BARA is now organising future events to cover these areas; the next one will be held in the North West in the autumn/winter (date to be confirmed).

Dr Richard Piggin, Conference Director and Chairman of BARA's Safety SIG (Special Interest Group), comments: "These conferences continue to be extremely popular, as witnessed by the capacity attendance. Delegates clearly articulating the need for a forum where functional safety standards and legislation can be discussed, particularly with the HSE (a BARA Safety SIG member). Machine designers and builders, system integrators and users of machinery have expressed their better understanding and improved knowledge these events impart. As the subject develops further, with the transition to new standards, and it becomes increasingly complex, BARA will continue to educate the market and provide a forum for debate."