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Health Designs Review

Posted in Uncategorized | August 27th, 2011

health designs review
Machine design ; health and safety reviews & regulations?

Speaking in general terms of a ”Machine”, Im looking for some information on the health and safety considerations in machine design.
Im sure safety considerations are factored in from the very early stages of design (i.e concept development) but I really dont have much information on the whole topic.

What sort of regulations have to be followed?
What sort of tests & documentation would need to be provided before a machine could be released onto the market?

If someone could suggest a good source of information on the subject please, or may be able to speak from experience?

Building a machine is not an easy task.
I am in the mist of designing a machine myself.
Safety concerns are not very large if you consider the legal aspects.

Basically you are responsible for the machine you design.
You are responsible for any damage or personal harm that comes to anyone that is directly or indirectly around your machine.

You need insurance, and you need to have a business such as an LLC(Limited Liability Corporation)
This protects you from being sued personally, if the machine is patented under the company name.

Second, you machine need to have a certification from someone like UL(Underwriters Laboratory).
This does not prevent you from being sued, but it limits your liability, and this is the name of the game, limiting liability.

As far as design, it greatly depends on your machine.

An E-Stop circuit is the first basic safety device on the machine. My experience is more than two decades, and I still argue of the legalities of the OSHA requirements over this circuit.

OSHA us the government organization that will conduct an investigation if there is an accident.

http://www.osha.gov/

Have a happy 5-Years studying the law.