Who Is Responsible for Machine Safety?

May 12, 2008
A machine can be designed such that it is safe in all instances but virtually unusable in day-to-day plant operations. Such a machine will inevitably have some or all of its safety features disabled by plant operations and maintenance personnel. A machine can also be designed such that all shutdown decisions are left in the hands of operators, unfairly burdening them with split second life-or-death decisions. The May issue of Control Design discusses these issues in detail (Proceed with Caution), but we would like to pose a question on-line. Namely: 1. Who bears primary responsibility for machine safety? Is it the machine buider or is it their customer?
A machine can be designed such that it is safe in all instances but virtually unusable in day-to-day plant operations. Such a machine will inevitably have some or all of its safety features disabled by plant operations and maintenance personnel. A machine can also be designed such that all shutdown decisions are left in the hands of operators, unfairly burdening them with split second life-or-death decisions. The May issue of Control Design discusses these issues in detail (Proceed with Caution), but we would like to pose a question on-line. Namely: 1. Who bears primary responsibility for machine safety? Is it the machine buider or is it their customer?

Sponsored Recommendations

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs) provide viable options for machine control. This Control Design collection explains the differences...
Motion control engineers tend to focus on torque and speed specifications during the design process, but often fail to notice the unique features that differentiate a high-quality...
Covering the basics of choosing the right position feedback option for your application.
This white paper describes advantages of using advanced angle sensor technologies and focuses on best practices for correctly implementing non-­contact and touchless angle sensors...