Machinery Directive; Harmonized European Standards - Siemens SINAMICS S120 Function Manual

1.2.1

Machinery Directive

The basic safety and health requirements specified in Annex I of the Directive must be
fulfilled for the safety of machines.
The protective goals must be implemented responsibly to ensure compliance with the
Directive.
Manufacturers of a machine must verify that their machine complies with the basic
requirements. This verification is facilitated by means of harmonized standards.
1.2.2

Harmonized European Standards

The two Standards Organizations CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation) and CENELEC
(Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique), mandated by the EU Commission,
drew-up harmonized European standards in order to precisely specify the requirements of
the EC directives for a specific product. These standards (EN standards) are published in the
official journal of the commission of the European Parliament and Council and must be
included without revision in domestic standards. They are designed to fulfill basic health and
safety requirements as well as the protective goals specified in Annex I of the Machinery
Directive.
When the harmonized standards are observed, it is "automatically assumed" that the
Directive is fulfilled. As such, manufacturers can assume that they have observed the safety
aspects of the Directive under the assumption that these are also covered in this standard.
However, not every European Standard is harmonized in this sense. Key here is the listing in
the official journal of the commission of the European Parliament and Council.
The European standards regarding the safety of machines are structured in a hierarchical
manner as follows:
● A standards (basic standards)
● B standards (group standards)
● C standards (product standards)
Type A standards/basic standards
A standards include basic terminology and definitions relating to all types of machine. This
includes EN ISO 12100 (previously EN 292) "Safety of Machines, Basic Terminology,
General Design Principles."
A standards are aimed primarily at the bodies responsible for setting the B and C standards.
The measures specified here for minimizing risk, however, may also be useful for
manufacturers if no applicable C standards have been defined.
Safety Integrated
Function Manual, (FHS), 11/2009, 6SL3097-4AR00-0BP0
Standards and regulations
1.2 Safety of machinery in Europe
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