Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC

Description:

The Machinery Directive (with the official reference number 2006/42/EC) covers the safety aspects of machinery, but also safety components, ropes, chains, etc : mechanical design, electrical design, controls, safety, and the potential for the machinery to create hazardous.

The Machinery Directive defines which products fall within its field of application, it provides the essential requirements that machinery and other equipment covered by it must comply with, and it outlines the conformity assessment procedure the manufacturer must apply in order to ensure compliance with the essential requirements.

WHICH PRODUCTS ARE COVERED BY THE MACHINERY DIRECTIVE?

The Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) covers machinery that are match the definition provided in the directive:

1、an assembly, fitted with or intended to be fitted with a drive system other than directly applied human or animal effort, consisting of linked parts or components, at least one of which moves, and which are joined together for a specific application

2、an assembly referred to in the first indent (above), missing only the components to connect it on site or to sources of energy and motion

3、an assembly referred to in the first and second indents (above), ready to be installed and able to function as it stands only if mounted on a means of transport, or installed in a building or a structure

4、assemblies of machinery referred to in the first, second and third indents (above) or partly completed machinery (also a defined term, see below) which, in order to achieve the same end, are arranged and controlled so that they function as an integral whole

5、an assembly of linked parts or components, at least one of which moves and which are joined together, intended for lifting loads and whose only power source is directly applied human effort

6、thus products missing only the electric motor, requiring mounting (eg a hydraulic lifting arm) onto a vehicle or structure / building), or to be assembled with others are all regarded as machinery in the strict sense.

Other types of equipment that are within the scope of the Machinery Directive are:

1、‘interchangeable equipment’ means a device which, after the putting into service of machinery or of a tractor, is assembled with that machinery or tractor by the operator himself in order to change its function or attribute a new function, in so far as this equipment is not a tool

2、‘safety component’ means a component: which serves to fulfil a safety function, which is independently placed on the market, the failure and/or malfunction of which endangers the safety of persons, and which is not necessary in order for the machinery to function, or for which normal components may be substituted in order for the machinery to function. An indicative list of safety components is set out in Annex V link to external website, which may be updated in accordance with Article 8(1)(a)

3、‘lifting accessory’ means a component or equipment not attached to the lifting machinery, allowing the load to be held, which is placed between the machinery and the load or on the load itself, or which is intended to constitute an integral part of the load and which is independently placed on the market; slings and their components are also regarded as lifting accessories

4、‘chains, ropes and webbing’ means chains, ropes and webbing designed and constructed for lifting purposes as part of lifting machinery or lifting accessories

‘removable mechanical transmission device’ means a removable component for transmitting power between self-propelled machinery or a tractor and another machine by joining them at the first fixed bearing. When it is placed on the market with the guard it shall be regarded as one product 

One further class of products that are almost machinery are brought into scope of the Directive, but they are treated slightly differently to “machinery” as defined above:

‘partly completed machinery’ means an assembly which is almost machinery but which cannot in itself perform a specific application. A drive system is partly completed machinery. Partly completed machinery is only intended to be incorporated into or assembled with other machinery or other partly completed machinery or equipment, thereby forming machinery to which this Directive applies

In the case of partly completed machinery it must not be supplied CE marked and instead of a Declaration of Conformity must be accompanied by a Declaration of Incorporation. It must also be supplied with instructions for its safe incorporation in an assembly with other machinery, partly completed machinery or equipment to form a machine. The person / organisation undertaking the final incorporation / assembly process to form the final machine then becomes the manufacturer of the complete product. As such they have to meet the requirements of the Directive, apply the CE mark and issue a Declaration of Conformity for the complete machine or assembly.

WHICH PRODUCTS ARE NOT COVERED BY THE MACHINERY DIRECTIVE?

Excluded from the Machinery Directive are:

1、safety components intended to be used as spare parts to replace identical components and supplied by the manufacturer of the original machinery

2、equipment for use in fairgrounds and amusement parks

3、certain means of land and sea transport (mostly covered by other Directives or international maritime law)

4、certain electrical equipment such as household appliances for domestic use, audio and visual equipment, IT equipment, ordinary office machinery and electric motors (covered by the Low Voltage Directive instead)

Other machines covered by other Directives are also excluded, for example:

1、lifts meeting the Lifts Directive 95/16/EC (as amended by 2006/42/EC PDF link to external website),

2、cableways meeting the Cableways Directive 2000/9/EC, and

3、machinery which is also a medical device so subject to the Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EC (as amended), although those machinery EHSRs that are relevant are “called up” by the Medical Devices Directive.

HOW TO COMPLY WITH THE MACHINERY DIRECTIVE:

Basically, the Machinery Directive offers two ways to perform conformity assessment:

1. Internal Production Control or CE marking self-certification: the manufacturer performs the conformity assessment and documents the assessment in his own right.

2. Involvement of a Notified Body: For higher risk machinery (listed in Annex IV to the Machinery Directive), for which no European harmonized standards are available, or for which the manufacturer did not apply these standards, the manufacturer is required to involve a third party certification body, or so-called ‘Notified Body’.

The following machines are listed on Annex IV of the Machinery Directive, and this means that for these machines it is mandatory to involve a Notified Body in the conformity assessment if the manufacturers has not used (all) European harmonised standards:

1. Circular saws (single- or multi-blade) for working with wood and material with similar physical characteristics or for working with meat and material with similar physical characteristics, of the following types:

1.1. sawing machinery with fixed blade(s) during cutting, having a fixed bed or support with manual feed of the work- piece or with a demountable power feed;

1.2. sawing machinery with fixed blade(s) during cutting, having a manually operated reciprocating saw-bench or carriage;

1.3 sawing machinery with fixed blade(s) during cutting, having a built-in mechanical feed device for the workpieces, with manual loading and/or unloading;

1.4. sawing machinery with movable blade(s) during cutting, having mechanical movement of the blade, with manual loading and/or unloading.

2. Hand-fed surface planing machinery for woodworking.

3. Thicknessers for one-side dressing having a built-in mechanical feed device, with manual loading and/or unloading for woodworking.