Training: The need for a 360° approach

More often than not, incident investigations discover several safety issues with equipment involved in the accidents. These safety issues originate in all phases of the life-cycle: specification; design; manufacture; use; modification; maintenance etc. It is becoming more apparent that legislation in itself is not enough; engineers need to have the competence and understanding to act in accordance with directives and standards. Engineers often ‘learn’ safety through experience alone. Proactive organisations demand additional education and certification of employees as the preferred way of reducing safety issues on sites.

Competence 

By way of training and experience in machinery safety, a competent person is knowledgeable in applicable standards, is capable of identifying workplace hazards relating to the specific operation of the equipment, and has the ability to correct them. 

Employees with responsibility for machinery safety – often multi-tasking – are increasingly expected not only to have, but also to prove, competence.  It has also been shown that correctly specified safety measures could lead to greater productivity. This makes safety a critical factor for success. A consistent safety philosophy includes not only provision of safe machines, but training of key employees with responsibility for worker safety and for safe control systems. 

The high costs of not addressing machinery safety are well documented, not only the ‘up front’ cost of accidents. Insurance costs covering injury, ill health, damage –account for roughly 10% of costs; the other 90% of costs are ‘hidden’ such as product and material damage, plant, machinery and building damage, legal costs, emergency supplies, cleaning site, production delays, temporary labour, fines and loss of expertise.

A poor safety concept may not only lead a machine to fail to conform, it may actively hinder the machine operators, leading them to seek ways to overcome the safety measures. It can make machine maintenance more difficult and time consuming, impact on availability through a high number of ‘false trips’ and can be difficult to diagnose and maintain

The person developing the overall safety concept needs to have an in-depth knowledge of the relevant legislation, regulations and standards, as well as the appropriate safety technologies. 

Machinery safety training 

Pilz offer a complete portfolio of Machinery Safety Training Courses, developed and presented by machinery safety experts ranging from Introduction to Machinery Safety Regulations and Standards to a City & Guilds accredited 4 day Machinery Safety Course. Pilz also provides a globally-recognised qualification enabling a 360° approach to machinery safety.

Drawing on extensive experience and knowledge in the area of machinery safety, Certified Machinery Safety Expert (CMSE) has been specifically developed by Pilz to provide the market with an expert level training in the area of machinery safety, providing a 360° all-encompassing approach. The course is certified by TÜV NORD, enabling those who complete the training to improve their competence through an internationally recognised qualification with independent certification.

The course is primarily aimed at design engineers, project engineers, safety engineers and development engineers from the field of automation technology as well as maintenance engineers and industrial engineers. Achieving CMSE is the optimum way to demonstrate your competence in the whole machinery safety life-cycle, gain a broader perspective and be part of a global expert community.

Pilz’s in-house consultants and engineers also offer a range of consultancy and engineering services covering the complete machinery safety lifecycle, including safety concept, design and validation.