The new Machinery Directive - how to play safe

Festo offers one-day orientation course on 2006/42/EC

Northampton, December 14, 2009 --- Festo has introduced a one-day orientation course for machine builders struggling to interpret the latest requirements of the new Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.

Following the decision of the EC Machinery Working Group to extend the transition period of the existing EN 954-1 safety standard beyond its expected end-of-life deadline of December 2009, but for an unspecified amount of time, machine designers and builders now face the dilemma of which safety standard to use. Should they stick with EN 954-1, even though its time is running out, or embrace its successor, EN ISO 13849-1, despite its apparent complexity?

Steve Sands, Festo's Product Manager, is unequivocal about the right course of action, "We all need to fully commit to the production world's ideal of zero machine-related accidents. Although machine builders will continue to benefit from EN 954-1's presumption of conformity for a while, a much better way of complying with both the intention and the spirit of Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is to adopt the new EN ISO 13849-1 safety standard now, and move forward together. This does not need to be as onerous as it has been portrayed to be - Festo, along with other leading automation component companies, is placing significant resources at the disposal of its customers."

Festo has identified ten functions where pneumatic safety measures can be implemented on machines, to help ensure compliance with the new EN ISO 13849-1 safety standard. The company is in the process of rolling out specific products and services to implement these measures, and has already launched a series of valve manifolds with built-in proximity sensors for position sensing/movement reversal, and a range of fail-safe brake units for pneumatic actuators.

The new one-day orientation course, 'Understanding the new machine directive' has been created by Festo Didactic, the training and consulting division of Festo, in direct response to issues highlighted by customers. It provides an overview of the key aspects and implications of Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, including risk assessment, analysis and evaluation as required by the new EN ISO 13849-1 safety standard - and will be of particular benefit to machine designers and builders, as well as maintenance personnel.

ENDS

Background information for editors

About Festo
Festo manufactures pneumatic and electrical components and systems to support customers with factory and process automation. The company has an annual turnover in excess of 1.7 billion Euro, employs 12,800 people around the world and has facilities in 176 countries. Festo operates an aggressive R&D programme investing 7.5% of sales annually, holds over 2,800 worldwide patents, introduces about 100 innovative new products to the market every year and has a product range of over 30,000. For more information about the company's products and services, please visit: http://www.festo.co.uk.

About Festo Didactic
Festo Didactic, the training and consultancy division of Festo, supports organisations seeking to develop competencies in sales & service, leadership, employee engagement, change management, team-working, coaching, business planning, production processes and automation technology. The division has particular expertise in working with manufacturing and engineering businesses. It has a full time workforce of over 200 and operates in 70 countries worldwide. Each year, it manages more than 230 consultancy projects and runs more than 2,900 open courses in 39 languages, involving some 42,000 participants. For more information about Festo Didactic, please visit http://www.festo-didactic.co.uk.

For further information please contact:

Nicola Meadway, Festo Ltd, Technology House, 1 Fleetwood Park, Barley Way, Fleet, Hampshire GU51 2QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1252 775000; Fax: +44 (0)1252 775015; http://www.festo.com; email:

Press release issued by: Nick Leatherdale of Wordsun Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1202 856000; email:

Magazines in Ireland
Please contact: Sonja Ferguson, Festo Ltd, Unit 5 Sandyford Park, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18, Republic of Ireland. Tel: +44 (0)7590 043250; email: