As many Companies will already be aware, the European Commission are withdrawing EN954 with effect from Dec 31st 2011.
In lieu of EN954, any Machine being placed within the EEA (European Economic Area) from 1st Jan 2012 onwards, will require their Safety Related Parts of Control Systems (SRP/CS) to be compliant and validated to either EN13849 orEN62061.
Although EN13849 & EN62061 have already been around for a number of years, it has always been generally accepted that EN954 was the ‘easier‘ Standard to comply with when CE Marking Machinery (if not always the mostappropriate standard).
However, now that the ‘EN954 option’ will no longer be available to any person(s) exporting Machinery to Europe, in my opinion, the new trend appears to be leaning more towards utilizing the EN 13849 Series of EN Standards for CE compliance of the Safety Related Parts of Control System i.e. EN13849-1 and EN13849-2.
What does this mean to Manufacturers here in the USA?
If you are an OEM exporting to Europe, Or…If you are a company who modifies existing Machinery for export to the European Market, Or… If you are transferring Machinery to a European Partner or European Sister Company, Or… If you are a 3rd Party who is responsible for importing Machinery into Europe; you will need to ensure that your Safety Related Control System (and Safety Parts of the Control System), meets with the requirements of either EN13849 or EN62061.
What is EN13849 & EN62061?
Upon initial review, these two EN Standards may appear to be somewhat complex in their content and meaning, but in essence their purpose is to replace the outdated principles reflected within EN954. As technology has advanced over the years so too has the requirement to keep pace with this new technology; subsequently, it was identified that there was a necessity for more ‘relevant’ EN Standards, pertaining to the subject of SRP/CS.
Historically, Machinery Builders have utilized EN954 to identify the appropriate ‘Control Category’ for their Machines Safety Related Parts of the Control System (SRP/CS) i.e. Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3 & Cat 4. Now, however, Machine Builders will need to decide if they wish to achieve CE Compliance via EN13849 (Which introducesPerformance Levels (PL) in place of Control Categories i.e. PLa, PLb, PLc, PLd & PLe)….OR…. If they wish to achieve CE Compliance via EN62061 (Which introduces Safety Integrity Levels (SIL) in place of Control Categories i.e. SIL1, SIL2 & SIL3).
It is worth noting that EN13849 is generally accepted as a direct replacement for EN954 as it covers any source of Energy (e.g. Electrical, Hydraulic, Pneumatic), whereas EN62061 is for the more complex Safety Related Electrical, Electronic and Programmable Electronic Control Systems (i.e. Of an Electrical nature only). It is also of note that EN13849 is broken down into two parts; EN13849-1 (General Principles for Design) and EN13849-2 (Validation).
How can Laicon Inc help you?
Laicon Inc is pleased to announce that they can offer their clients an initial EN13849-1 Machine Assessment to determine the Performance Level required (PLr) of their Machinery SRP/CS, as well as a full EN13849-2 Validation Service to confirm, verify and validate that the PLr has in fact been achieved. These Validation Report Documents need to be made available / incorporated into the Machinery Technical Construction File (TCF). Please click on the “EN13849 Assessment and Validation Services” Link, under the CE Marking Section on the left hand side of our Home page for further details.
Let us help you to get it right!
Should you require further information pertaining to EN13849 (or EN62061), or if you are interested in discussing the methodology of the Validation Services for these EN Standards, please contact Laicon Inc at [email protected] or [email protected] or contact myself directly at [email protected]. For further information on our other Services, please call us on 407-926-6185. Thank You.