WHY YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR MACHINERY CE MARKING PAPERWORK
BY DEREK COULSON
In less than a year, the new EU Machinery Regulation 2023 / 1230( MR) supersedes the Machinery Directive 2006 / 42 / EC( MD) on 20th January 2027. Machine builders must be prepared, including manufacturers of series machines already in production. There is no transition period – the change will, in effect, be overnight. While some machine builders will only need to revise their paperwork, others may have to go much further.
The new MR has additional essential health and safety requirements( EHSRs), such as those relating to cybersecurity. Any machine with a USB or network port will require an assessment. Machinery linked to networks or the internet, or that is capable of autonomous operation, will probably need assessing by competent IT professionals.
It is imperative that machine builders study the new MR and understand the implications. A new risk assessment might be needed for the whole machine or just certain aspects. Depending on the outcome, changes to the design, software or hardware could be required.
Annex I machinery( formerly Annex IV) built to harmonised standards will need a Notified Body Type Approval until the standards are updated and harmonised to the MR. It could be months or years until these are all harmonised.
18 MACHINERY, AUTOMATION, CONTROL & ENGINEERING