European Commission Revises Statement Regarding Machinery Directive Standards


Deadline for conformity with EN ISO 13849-1 or EN/IEC 62061 remains 29 Dec 2009. Extension of EN 954 1 to be considered at December meeting.

MILWAUKEE, 23 Sept 2009 - Prior communications from the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) had indicated that the European Commission would extend EN 954-1 such that it could continue to be used in parallel with EN ISO 13849-1 to support compliance with the European Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC for an additional three years, facilitating the ultimate transition to the new standard. The European Commission has now reconsidered this matter and a final decision on whether or not to extend the presumption of conformity of EN 954-1 past 29 Dec 2009 will be taken after the Machinery Working Group meeting on 7-8 Dec 2009.

EN 954-1, the main standard for the design of safety-related control systems in the "machinery safety" sector, has traditionally been followed for presumption of conformity to European Machinery Directive 98/37/EC. New standards EN ISO 13849-1 or EN/IEC 62061 - which provide for use of more advanced safety-control systems technologies - are scheduled to replace EN 954-1 on 29 Dec 2009, making the new control-system standards the only ones accepted under the new European Machinery
Directive 2006/42/EC. This change has been widely anticipated since EN ISO 13849-1 was published in 2006.

Though many machine builders and control-system suppliers have invested significant time and money in preparing to follow the new standards, others have found it difficult to prepare for the change. Therefore, some have requested that the deadline for withdrawal of the presumption of conformity for EN 954-1 be extended. This would mean that machine builders could use either EN ISO 13849-1 or continue using the older EN 954-1 until the new deadline.

In any case, with the complete withdrawal of EN 954-1 being inevitable, use of EN 954-1 alone will become problematic. That's because EN 954-1 is not specifically suitable for more advanced technologies commonly used today in machine-control applications and safety products. Additionally, many machine-specific C-type EN standards already call for the use of EN ISO 13849-1 or EN 62061, with no reference to EN 954-1.

Dan Hornbeck, market development manager at Rockwell Automation, explained: "We believe machine builders should comply with EN ISO 13849-1 as soon as possible. Rockwell Automation has long supported the new functional safety standards for two important reasons: First, the new standard helps improve the safety of today's complex machines. Second, incorporating new technologies and design practices that the new EN ISO 13849-1 standard supports can help companies see improvements in overall machine efficiency, productivity and flexibility."

Even if the deadline were to be extended, working to EN 954-1 would increasingly be seen as "second class." The opportunities provided by functional safety standards to improve safety, efficiency and sustainability - while reducing development and operational costs - means that machine builders who adopt these technologies early will move ahead of the competition

Rockwell Automation is ready to help customers meet the new standards with technologies, products and the necessary functional safety data. Functional safety data is available in multiple forms, including a data library for use with the SISTEMA calculation tool from the BGIA (Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance), and a PDF file providing data for manual calculation. Functional safety data, including both the SISTEMA calculation tool and the library, can be downloaded at the Rockwell Automation Safety Solutions Portal (http://discover.rockwellautomation.com).

Additional information will be posted on the Safety Solutions Portal as it becomes available.

As the global leader in safety solutions for manufacturing, Rockwell Automation provides integrated, programmable or component-based safety solutions based on the requirements and complexity of the application.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs about 20,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.

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