Standards Update

October's general meeting of the IEC in Tel Aviv saw agreement on the new standard for Ex 's' equipment and ongoing work for the transfer of the non-electrical standards work from CEN to IEC. Ron Sinclair was there and reports on these development The requirement to develop a special protection Ex 's' standard came from the IECEx Certification Scheme.  Europeans, using the ATEX Directive, have become used to allowing a degree of initiative in interpretation of standards, since the certification is against the Essential Health and Safety Requirements of the Directive, rather than against the letter of the standard. This is not to say that standards can be ignored, but under ATEX there is latitude available where strict...

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At the meeting of the European Machinery Working Group on 7/8.12.2009 in Brussels, the EU Commission again discussed the request from the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) to extend EN 954-1’s presumption of conformity. According to information from a representative of the CEN the majority of member states were in favour of an extension and the extension will be granted. However, the Commission has still to define an exact timescale for this extension. The changes to the Directive were thrown into confusion in early September when reports that the EC had decided to delay the phasing out of BS EN 954-1 began to circulate. The decision apparently stemmed from complaints about difficulties in applying the new standards, especially...

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The success of Wieland's Machinery Safety Regulation Seminars, which have been designed to provide a thorough review of the steps necessary to achieve compliance with the new regulations, have resulted in the company adding further dates for Ireland…These include January 19th Dublin; and January 21st in Cork Two new standards, EN62061 and EN ISO 13849-1, are being implemented to replace EN954-1 and are aimed at achieving an acceptable risk level for machinery and the seminars are designed to help engineers tackle the changes and make a smooth transition. There are still a few remaining places on the UK Seminars – 10^th December in Cambridge and 15^th December in Bristol. To book a place...

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The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has this week formally endorsed the use of the IECEx certification system for the verification of product compliance with international safety standards in hazardous areas. The scheme will provide adequate risk mitigation without creating excessive costs or red tape for business and its adoption will remove the costly duplication of equipment assessment and certification. UNECE’s Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies approved a model for legislation of equipment used in environments with an explosive atmosphere at a meeting last month. High-risk environments covered by the model include mines, refineries and chemical plants, as well as offshore...

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