42 n ELECTRICAL November/December 2024 www.drivesncontrols.com Are you complying with BS EN 60204-1? Although BS EN 60204-1 ‘Safety of machinery. Electrical equipment of machines. General requirements is a designated standard, it is often not complied with. Compliance with a designated standard provides a presumption of conformity when UKCA marking to the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations. Likewise, the standard is harmonised for CE marking to the European Machinery Directive. While it is not mandatory to comply with designated/harmonised standards, doing so is the easiest way to meet the relevant essential health and safety requirements (EHSRs) in the legislation. It should, therefore, be unusual for a machine to be noncompliant with designated/harmonised standards including BS EN 60204-1. Derek Coulson is a machinery safety specialist with the Teesside rm Safe Machine, as was the late Paul Skyrme, prior to his passing in 2023. With over 50 years of experience between them, and having inspected numerous machines and electrical panels, they were acutely aware that BS EN 60204-1 (IEC 60204-1) is often not complied with. Sometimes this is due to ignorance, while at other times electricians and wiremen have made conscious decisions to disregard particular clauses. In addition, endusers have been known to specify that electrical equipment is installed in ways that do not comply with the standard. One reason behind the widespread noncompliance is that electricians are often more familiar with BS 7671:Requirements for Electrical Installations (the IET Wiring Regulations). However, this standard should not be used for electrical equipment on machinery and there are important dierences between it and BS EN 60204-1. For example, applying BS 7671 could result in the wrong colour coding being used for wires, and the current-carrying capacity being inadequate. Incorrect colour coding could lead to misidentication by maintainers, putting them at risk. Furthermore, if the current-carrying capacity The machine safety standard BS EN 60204-1 is often not complied with. Aware of this, a pair of safety experts produced a free White Paper designed to help machine-builders and panel-builders to improve their level of compliance with the standard. Compliance with the BS EN 60204-1 standard makes machines safer and can improve reliability, reduce unplanned stoppages, and lower costs of ownership.
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