Posted to News on 31st May 2009, 15:20
Sick (UK) hosts hands-on safety standards workshops
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 regulations are complex, and Sick UK is hosting a 2009 series of hands-on safety standards workshops across the UK to help engineers to tackle the new regime.
Sick's seminar programme for the rest of 2009 has now been finalised, with events in May, June, September and November. For further information on dates and venues, and to book a place, go to www.sick.co.uk.
Seb Strutt, Safety Product Manager at 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 954-1 [but see this more recent announcement confirming the extended transition period for EN 954-1 - Ed].
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 is what the workshop programme is designed to do."
Workshop format
Each 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 will keep the overview of each standard within easy reach, and worked examples help make complicated issues digestible. In addition, a software tool for probability level calculation will be available free to delegates.
Delegates will require some prior knowledge of safety-related control systems, and the course is specifically relevant to control engineers, maintenance engineers, design engineers and project managers.
The seminar programme for the rest of 2009 includes dates in May, June, September and November. For more information go to www.sick.co.uk.
Free guide
Sick has also produced a Six steps to a safe machine' publication which, step by step, introduces the Laws and Directives, Risk Assessment, Safe Design, Protective Measures, Residual Risk, Overall Validation and Placing onto the Market. [Read a review of this guide on MachineBuilding.net here.]
For more information on the Sick seminars and a copy of the Six steps guide, contact Ann Attridge ([email protected]) or Andrea Hornby ([email protected]) or telephone +44 (0)1727 831121.
