A Vital Step to Securing Complete Machinery Safety. Machine users require absolute assurance that safety systems achieve necessary safety requirements and comply with global and regional standards. Safety automation is now a customary element of many machine systems, adding to the complexity of machine safety compliance and standardisation.
Safety validation is therefore key to ensuring workplace safety and compliance (with standards and regulations) of machinery. Because validation occurs during the final stages of design, and after risk assessment has taken place, the task can often be overlooked or underestimated.
Standards and Regulations
Machinery safety systems must be validated in accordance with IEC 61508, IEC 62061, EN ISO 13849-1 and 13849-2. EN ISO 13849-2 specifies that, “Validation is a process that uses both static and dynamic testing, and other methodologies, to show that all parts interact correctly to perform the intended safety function, and that unintended functions do not occur.”
Machinery Lifecycle
Validation of control systems in machinery is a fundamental part of the Machine Safety Lifecycle allowing the end-user and machine supplier an opportunity to confirm the features of the safety system design meet the requirements identified in risk assessment and defined during specification and design. It also provides the end-user with the assurance that the machine is fully compliant with relevant safety standards.
Executing validation is a complicated and intricate task today, given advances that have been, and will be made in the development of machinery automation. Certification to regulations such as CE marking in accordance with the machinery directive, compliance with NR 12 (Brazil) and selected ANSI standards requires documentation of the validation results. For certain applications independent third party validation may apply.
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Safety Validation Services