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Risk assessment: Machine safety
When designing industrial facilities, both the manufacturers of individual components and the operators are responsible for machine safety . Machine safety is closely linked to occupational safety, health protection, and plant safety within the framework of risk assessment. Often, operators are unclear about where their responsibility for machine safety begins and ends.
At first, the division of responsibilities seems clear: the manufacturer is responsible for the safe operation of their machines, with the safety of the design being certified in Germany and Europe through the CE marking.
On the other hand, the process operator and employer are responsible for ensuring the safe operation of the machines and assessing potential hazards before using equipment (risk assessment).
The basis of this regulation includes the Machinery Directive (2006/42 EC), the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (BetrSichV), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (ArbSchG), and the Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV).
As part of the risk assessment, not only the machines themselves but also all tools and mobile or stationary work equipment used in the workplace must be reviewed. According to the additional inspection regulations in the BetrSichV from § 14 onwards, facilities requiring monitoring, such as those posing an explosion hazard (e.g., biogas plants), must also be included in the risk assessment.
What many operators are not aware of:
- As soon as they modify or alter machines, for example, to integrate them into an existing system where older machines without CE markings may also be used, a new risk assessment must be conducted.
- Also important: A CE marking does not exempt one from the obligation to carry out a risk assessment!
Risk assessment machine safety
1. Define areas of responsibility and activities
The first step in preparing for a risk assessment is to record the structure of the facility and the different types of work equipment. Workplaces with similar equipment and environmental conditions can be grouped into structural units.
2. Identify hazards and evaluate risks
The goal of the risk assessment in machine safety is to identify and assess all potential hazards associated with facilities, machines, tools, and work equipment throughout their lifecycle, for example:
- During assembly and installation,
- During transport,
- During commissioning,
- During operation,
- During maintenance and repair,
- During cleaning,
- During dismantling,
- During disposal.
This ensures that employees have access to equipment that meets all safety requirements and does not pose a hazard when used as intended.
Methods for identifying hazards related to equipment include:
- Recording equipment, work areas, and tasks,
- Site inspections with visual checks, usability tests, and functional tests of equipment (BetrSichV § 4),
- Examining interactions between equipment and personnel,
- Checking the functionality of protective and safety devices,
- Interviews with employees about potential hazards,
- Evaluation of operational and work instructions, documentation, and measurement data from machine operation (e.g., hazardous substances, noise, emissions).
The risk assessment for machine safety should begin before the procurement and commissioning of the equipment to assess the suitability of the planned machines for their intended use and work processes (BetrSichV § 3). Existing risk assessments from the manufacturer can be incorporated if they reflect the working conditions and processes in the facility.
Identifying all potential hazards around machines and work equipment is a complex and time-consuming process. Therefore, it is advisable to use checklists specifically tailored to the facility. Standards like DIN EN ISO 12100 or safety standards for similar types of machines and plants provide guidance.
3. Identification of suitable protective measures
After analyzing potential hazards in machine safety, the next step is to eliminate possible risks through appropriate measures. This is based on:
- § 8: Safety measures for hazards from power supply disruptions or static electricity, equipment with measuring, control, and regulating devices, starting and stopping procedures,
- § 9: Stability and security, protective devices, access points, protection from moving parts, falls, hazardous substances, clear and understandable safety signs.
- Step: Ensure inherently safe machine and plant design through appropriate design features as per DIN EN ISO 12100.
- Step: If inherently safe design features are not sufficient to eliminate all hazards, further technical or supplementary safety measures may be implemented, depending on the type of hazard – these could include emergency stop systems or automatic hazardous substance removal systems.
- Step: Machine safety can be further optimized with additional measures such as effective user information through prominent warning signs, pictograms, safety instructions, signals, or briefings.
4. Implement measures
Before implementing machine safety measures, a plan with clear priorities, binding deadlines, and the assignment of responsible experts should be developed.
The goal of all safety measures is to reduce hazards and risks in machine safety as much as possible.
- Step: Technical safety measures, such as emergency shutdown systems, protective enclosures, noise protection, removal of sharp edges or slip hazards, machine intrinsic safety, etc.,
- Step: Organizational safety measures, such as ergonomic workplace design and reducing exposure time in areas with high noise, vibration, etc.,
- Step: Behavioral safety measures, such as training, workshops, and safety drills,
- Step: Personal safety measures, such as the use of protective equipment like hearing protection, mandatory glove use, etc.
5. Review the effectiveness of the measures taken
At this stage, continuous monitoring is necessary to determine whether the measures are effective and have improved machine safety.
It is also essential to check whether new, previously unconsidered hazards have emerged during safety measures that may require a new risk assessment.
Suitable methods for reviewing the effectiveness include regular measurements, site inspections, and employee surveys.
If some safety measures prove ineffective, the corresponding steps in the risk assessment process must be revisited.
6. Updating the risk assessment
Risk assessment in machine safety is an ongoing process in which the effectiveness of the measures taken must be continuously re-evaluated, for example, due to the machines' advancing lifecycle, the introduction of new technologies, machine modifications or upgrades, or changes in operational requirements or work processes.
7. Documentation
Careful documentation of all results from the machine safety risk assessments, including the measures already taken and their effectiveness checks, forms an essential basis for implementing future safety measures more quickly, economically, and effectively.
