Safety Consultancy Service
For machinery and plants with hazardous run-on movements, we can measure the run-down time! On machinery and plants, which are likely to produce dangerous run-on movements, the run-down time must be measured at regular intervals. The run-down time is the time expiring between the activation of the safety guard and the stopping of the hazardous movement. This time indeed can change, for instance due to the mechanical wear of the components, the utilisation of a heavier tool or additional participants being tied in into a safety bus. Before the machinery safety standards were harmonised European wide, the state of the affairs were clearer than nowadays. The professional associations prescribed regular inspections and checks for certain machine types, which are protected by means of electro-sensitive safety devices (ESD). For ESD on mechanically-powered presses for instance, the run-down time had to be measured once a year. Meanwhile, the standards no longer prescribe an interval for the inspections and checks. Many operators however maintain the annual check, because they are held responsible and liable in the event of possible accidents on the plants. The practice indeed proves that on every cyclic inspection of the machines changes are found, which are primarily due to wear. The Safety Consultants of the Schmersal Group offer the run-down time measurement as on-site service, for which they use state of the art measuring equipment. Besides measuring the run-down time, they also check the entire safety technology and its compliance with the standards. For the run-down time on presses, the "worst-case" scenario is measured, i.e. the operating mode in which the machine has the longest run-down time. In this way, the operator is always on the safe side! If you require additional information on the safety consulting service we provide, please contact our TUV approved safety consulting specialist Mark Langfield on 01684 571981 or email him at: mlangfield@schmersal.com