# Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast) (Text with EEA relevance), Division 2.2.1: General

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Portable hand-held and/or hand-guided machinery must:
depending on the type of machinery, have a supporting surface of sufficient size and have a sufficient number of handles and supports of an appropriate size, arranged in such a way as to ensure the stability of the machinery under the intended operating conditions,
except where technically impossible, or where there is an independent control device, in the case of handles which cannot be released in complete safety, be fitted with manual start and stop control devices arranged in such a way that the operator can operate them without releasing the handles,
present no risks of accidental starting and/or continued operation after the operator has released the handles. Equivalent steps must be taken if this requirement is not technically feasible,
permit, where necessary, visual observation of the danger zone and of the action of the tool with the material being processed.
The handles of portable machinery must be designed and constructed in such a way as to make starting and stopping straightforward.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2006/42/annex/I/division/1/division/n6/division/2.2/division/2.2.1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2006-42/annex-I/division-1/division-n6/division-2.2/division-2.2.1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.