Posted to News on 13th Jan 2009, 10:39
Hands-on workshops explain BS EN 13849 and BS EN 62061
New machinery safety regulations come into force in December 2009 and there is not much time left for engineers to prepare for the change. Details and provisions of the new BS EN 13849 and BS EN 62061 standards are complex and Sick UK will host a series of hands-on safety standards workshops throughout the year to help engineers to tackle the new regime.
Seb Strutt, Safety Product Manager of Sick, comments: "The best way to get to grips with the new standards is actually applying them in a factory floor environment. The seminars are designed to provide a thorough review of the practical steps necessary to identify and achieve the requirements."
EN 62061 and EN IS0 13849-1 will become the core standards for the design, implementation and validation of machinery-related control systems, in place of EN 954.
Strutt adds: "While consultants write white papers on computer-controlled and integrated layers of safety, and conferences produce programmes on the detail of the new legislation, sub-clause by sub-clause, the engineer has to implement it at a machine and plant level.
"Our experience, in attending conferences and seminars in the UK and Europe, is that theory is best reinforced by practical examples. Working through real examples allows the wider and broader implications of the regulations to fall into place and make sense.
"Engineers need to acquire a working knowledge of the basics, a practical toolkit, so that you have the methodology you need to apply the regulations day to day. That's what the workshop programme is designed to do."
One-day workshop
The one-day workshop offered by Sick introduces engineers to the two safety control standards and gives a working understanding of their content and application. Worksheets with action cues keep the overview of each standard within easy reach and worked examples help make complicated issues digestible.
Delegates will require some knowledge of safety-related control systems. The course is specifically relevant to control engineers, maintenance engineers, design engineers and project managers.
For further information on seminar dates and venues during 2009, visit www.sick.co.uk. The first 2009 seminar dates are confirmed as 20 January, Wakefield and 21 January, St Albans. In February, seminars are planned in Dublin and in the Midlands.
Sick has also produced the Six steps to a safe machine publication (see the MachineBuilding.net review) which introduces the laws and directives, risk assessment, safe design, protective measures, residual risk, overall validation and placing onto the market.
For more information on the Sick safety systems and safety seminars and for a copy of the Six Steps guide, contact Ann Attridge or Andrea Hornby on +44 (0)1727 831121 or email [email protected] or [email protected].
