Due to overwhelming demand Laidler Associates have released new dates for our free New Machinery Directive Workshops.

New Dates in March for Dartford, Birmingham and Newcastle.

Laidler Associates and Safety Systems have come together to run a short series of machinery safety seminars. Practical solutions are the focal issue of the day and so a new, virtual reality environment has been produced to represent as accurately as possible a genuine production environment. Throughout the day, delegates will be able to assess commonly found hazards and correct them, taking the environment from unsafe to safe.

• Dartford, March 3rd
• Birmingham, March 4th
• Newcastle, March 5th

For further information, please contact Chris Norris, Marketing Manager for Laidler Associates on 08700 111375 or email Chris Norris on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Machinery Safety Directive

All machines in the European Economic Area (EEA) from January 1st 1995, must comply with the Machinery Directive and be safe.

There are few exclusions to the Directive making this one of the most significant of all the New Approach Directives.

The scope of the Machinery Safety Directive defines a machine as the following:

• An assembly of linked parts of components, at least one of which moves, with the appropriate actuators, control and power circuits, joined together for a specific application, in particular for the processing, treatment, moving or packaging of a material.
• An assembly of machines which, in order to archive the same end, are arranged and controlled so that they function as an integral whole;
• Interchangeable equipment, placed on the market for the purpose of being assembled with other machinery.

Safety components for machinery, described as:

• Components which are supplied separately to fulfil a safety function when in use and the failure or malfunctioning of which endangers the safety or health of exposed persons.
• The New Approach Directives lay down minimum criteria for compliance. These criteria are called The Essential Health and Safety Requirements (EHSR).

The preferred way to comply with EHSR's is by the application of harmonised EN standards, which are replacing the national standards of member states, and Risk Assessment.