Noise Risk as Described in Instructions for Printing Machinery Supplied in Europe
Regular paper
Health and Safety Executive
Tuesday 2 june, 2015, 09:20 - 09:40
0.6 Madrid (49)
Abstract:
The European Machinery Directive was introduced to facilitate free trade of work equipment and prevent inconsistent standards of safety becoming a barrier to trade. It establishes essential health and safety requirements for machinery and these include general and specific requirements regarding noise. A Europe-wide study of the noise-related content of instructions supplied with machinery found that 80% did not meet legal requirements. Work was carried out to assess the value of noise emission information supplied with printing machinery used in the United Kingdom. In-use noise levels were measured at printing premises between 2010 and 2011. The noise-related contents of instruction handbooks for printing machinery installed on these sites was collected for assessment against the noise requirements of the Machinery Directive. The majority of the instructions contained noise emission values that were credible as an indicator of real use risk. The approach to writing standards for printing machinery has been to have machinery operating under realistic conditions during standard noise tests; this has produced noise emission data representative of real use noise levels. Declared noise emission information for printing machinery is therefore likely to help the user assess and adequately manage the noise risk.