Safety distances standard
June 1st 2008 On 30 April 2008, BS EN ISO
13857:2008 Safety of
machinery. Safety distances
to prevent hazard zones
being reached by upper and
lower limbs replaced both BS
EN 294:1992 Safety of
machinery. Safety distances
to prevent danger zones
being reached by the upper
limbs and BS EN 811:1997
Safety of machinery. Safety
distances to prevent danger
zones being reached by the
lower limbs. These two
standards were superseded
and withdrawn as of 30
April. The new standard also
cancels and replaces ISO
13852:1996 and ISO
13853:1998, the ISO
equivalents to the old
European standards.
In reality it is likely that
few people actively designed
safeguards to comply with
the requirements of EN 811,
as physical guards usually
extend almost to floor level
and, in any case, designers
generally assume that access
will be attempted using the
upper limbs. In the new
standard, the material
relating to reach distances
for lower limbs is contained
in a single sub-clause 4.3
that states that, in general,
'safety distances should be
determined using Tables 1 to
6 for the upper limbs.' In
situations where it is not
foreseeable that upper limbs
can have access to the
opening, then further data is
provided in Table 7. Annex B
gives safety distances for
situations where Tables 1 to
7 cannot be used.
Something to note is that
the standard's scope covers
people of 14 years and older
for upper and lower limbs,
and children lower than three
years where reaching through
openings needs to be
addressed.
As an official BSI
Distributor, Pilz can supply
copies of BS EN ISO
13857:2008 (ISBN 978 0 580
57034 6) for £114 plus P&P. More articles from Pilz Automation Technology: | 
