Paragraph 4 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

lifting accessories:

• “lifting accessories” means components or equipment not attached to the machine and placed between the machinery and the load or on the load in order to attach it;

separate lifting accessories:

• “separate lifting accessories” means accessories which help to make up or use a slinging device, such as eyehooks, shackles, rings, eyebolts, etc;

guided load:

• “guided load” means the load where the total movement is made along rigid or flexible guides, whose position is determined by fixed points;

working coefficient:

• “working coefficient” means the arithmetic ratio between the load guaranteed by the manufacturer up to which a piece of equipment, and accessory or machinery is able to hold it and the maximum working load marked on the equipment, accessory or machinery respectively;

test coefficient:

• “test coefficient” means the arithmetic ratio between the load used to carry out the static or dynamic tests on a piece of equipment, an accessory or machinery and the maximum working load marked on the piece of equipment, accessory or machinery;

static test

• “static test” means the test during which the machinery or the lifting accessory is first inspected and then subjected to a force corresponding to the maximum working load multiplied by the appropriate static test coefficient and then reinspected once the said load has been released to ensure no damage has occurred;

dynamic test:

• “dynamic test” means the test during which the machinery is operated in all its possible configurations at maximum working load with account being taken of the dynamic behaviour of the machinery in order to check that the machinery and safety features are functioning properly.

Risks due to lack of stability

• Machinery must be so designed and constructed that the stability required in 1.3.1 is maintained both in service and out of service, including all stages of transportation, assembly and dismantling, during foreseeable component failures and also during the tests carried out in accordance with the instruction handbook.

• To that end, the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the Community must use the appropriate verification methods; in particular, for selfpropelled industrial trucks with lift exceeding 1.80 m, the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the Community must, for each type of industrial truck concerned, perform a platform stability test or similar test, or have such tests performed.

Guide rails and rail tracksMachinery must be provided with devices which act on the guide rails or tracks to prevent derailment.

• However, if derailment occurs despite such devices, or if there is a failure of a rail or a running component, devices must be provided which prevent the equipment, component or load from falling or the machine overturning.

Mechanical strength

• Machinery, lifting accessories and removable components must be capable of withstanding the stresses to which they are subjected, both in and, where applicable, out of use, under the installation and operating conditions provided for by the manufacturer, and in all relevant configurations, with due regard, where appropriate, to the effects of atmospheric factors and forces exerted by persons. This requirement must also be satisfied during transport, assembly and dismantling.

• Machinery and lifting accessories must be designed and constructed so as to prevent failure from fatigue or wear, taking due account of their intended use.

• The materials used must be chosen on the basis of the working environments provided for by the manufacturer, with special reference to corrosion, abrasion, impacts, cold brittleness and ageing.

• The machinery and the lifting accessories must be designed and constructed to withstand the overload in the static tests without permanent deformation or patent defect. The calculation must take account of the values of the static test coefficient chosen to guarantee an adequate level of safety; that coefficient has, as a general rule, the following values:

  1. (a)

     manually-operated machinery and lifting accessories: 1.5;

  2. (b)

     other machinery: 1.25.

• Machinery must be designed and constructed to undergo, without failure, the dynamic tests carried out using the maximum working load multiplied by the dynamic test coefficient. This dynamic test coefficient is chosen so as to guarantee an adequate level of safety: the coefficient is, as a general rule, equal to 1.1.

• The dynamic tests must be performed on machinery ready to be put into service under normal conditions of use. As a general rule, the tests will be performed at the nominal speeds laid down by the manufacturer. Should the control circuit of the machinery allow for a number of simultaneous movements (for example, rotation and displacement of the load), the tests must be carried out under the least favourable conditions, ie as a general rule by combining the movements concerned.

Pulleys, drums, chains or ropes

• Pulleys, drums and wheels must have a diameter commensurate with the size of rope or chains with which they can be fitted.

• Drums and wheels must be so designed, constructed and installed that the ropes or chains with which they are equipped can wind round without falling off.

• Ropes used directly for lifting or supporting the load must not include any splicing other than at their ends (splicings are tolerated in installations which are intended from their design to be modified regularly according to needs for use). Complete ropes and their endings have a working coefficient chosen so as to guarantee an adequate level of safety; as a general rule, this coefficient is equal to five.

• Lifting chains have a working coefficient chosen so as to guarantee an adequate level of safety; as a general rule, this coefficient is equal to four.

• In order to verify that an adequate working coefficient has been attained, the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the Community must, for each type of chain and rope used directly for lifting the load, and for the rope ends, perform the appropriate tests or have such tests performed.

Separate lifting accessories

• Lifting accessories must be sized with due regard to fatigue and ageing processes for a number of operating cycles consistent with their expected life-span as specified in the operating conditions for a given application.

• Moreover:

  1. (a)

     the working coefficient of the metallic rope/rope-end combination is chosen so as to guarantee an adequate level of safety; this coefficient is, as a general rule, equal to five. Ropes must not comprise any splices or loops other than at their ends;

  2. (b)

     where chains with welded links are used, they must be of the short link type. The working coefficient of chains of any type is chosen so as to guarantee an adequate level of safety; this coefficient is, as a general rule, equal to four;

  3. (c)

     the working coefficient for textile ropes or slings is dependent on the material, method of manufacture, dimensions and use. This coefficient is chosen so as to guarantee an adequate level of safety; it is, as a general rule, equal to seven, provided the materials used are shown to be of very good quality and the method of manufacture is appropriate to the intended use. Should this not be the case, the coefficient is, as a general rule, set at a higher level in order to secure an equivalent level of safety.

     Textile ropes and slings must not include any knots, connections or splicing other than at the ends of the sling, except in the case of an endless sling;

  4. (d)

     all metallic components making up, or used with, a sling must have a working coefficient chosen as to guarantee an adequate level of safety; this coefficient is, as a general rule, equal to four;

  5. (e)

     the maximum working capacity of a multi-legged sling is determined on the basis of the safety coefficient of the weakest leg, the number of legs and a reduction factor which depends on the slinging configuration;

  6. (f)

     in order to verify that an adequate working coefficient has been attained, the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the Community must, for each type of component referred to in (a), (b), (c) and (d) perform the appropriate tests or have such tests performed.

Control of movements

• Devices for controlling movements must act in such a way that the machinery on which they are installed is kept safe:

  1. (a)

     machinery must be so designed or fitted with devices that the amplitude of movement of its components is kept within the specified limits. The operation of such devices must, where appropriate, be preceded by a warning;

  2. (b)

     where several fixed or rail-mounted machines can be manoeuvred simultaneously in the same place, with risks of collision, such machines must be so designed and constructed as to make it possible to fit systems enabling these risks to be avoided;

  3. (c)

     the mechanisms of machinery must be so designed and constructed that the loads cannot creep dangerously or fall freely and unexpectedly, even in the event of partial or total failure of the power supply or when the operator stops operating the machine;

  4. (d)

     it must not be possible, under normal operating conditions, to lower the load solely by friction brake, except in the case of machinery, whose function requires it to operate in that way;

  5. (e)

     holding devices must be so designed and constructed that inadvertent dropping of the loads is avoided.

Handling of loads

• The driving position of machinery must be located in such a way as to ensure that widest possible view of trajectories of the moving parts, in order to avoid possible collisions with persons or equipment or other machinery which might be manoeuvring at the same time and liable to constitute a hazard.

• Machinery with guided loads fixed in one place must be designed and constructed so as to prevent exposed persons from being hit by the load or the counter-weights.

Lightning

• Machinery in need of protection against the effects of lightning while being used must be fitted with a system for conducting the resultant electrical charges to earth.

Driving position

• The requirements laid down in section 3.2.1 also apply to non-mobile machinery.

Seating

• The requirements laid down in section 3.2.2 first and second paragraphs, and those laid down in section 3.2.3 also apply to non-mobile machinery.

Control devices

• The devices controlling movements of the machinery or its equipment must return to their neutral position as soon as they are released by the operator. However, for partial or complete movements in which there is no risk of the load or the machinery colliding, the said devices may be replaced by controls authorising automatic stops at preselected levels without holding a hold-to-run control device.

Loading control

• Machinery with a maximum working load of not less than 1000 kilograms or an overturning moment of not less than 40,000 Nm must be fitted with devices to warn the driver and prevent dangerous movements of the load in the event of:

  • overloading the machinery

  • either as a result of maximum working loads being exceeded, or

  • as a result of the moments due to the loads being exceeded,

  • the moments conducive to overturning being exceeded as a result of the load being lifted.