Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC new approach

Which Directive applies to machinery?

There are a number of Directives that establish common legal requirements for each product or type of product within the European sphere, leaving the method and means of achieving this to national authorities through Royal Decree.

The Directives shall be limited to the harmonisation of essential safety requirements but,

Which Directive should I apply to my machines?

The Directive currently applicable to machinery is Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery and repealing Directive 95/16/EC (Recast).

It defines the range of products covered and the nature of the risks that are to be avoided. And what products are these?

The scope of Directive 2006/42/EC shall apply to the following products:

the machines;
b) the interchangeable equipment;
c) the safety components;
d) lifting accessories;
e) ropes, cables and straps;
f) removable mechanical transmission devices;
g) Quasi-machines.

On the other hand, the following products shall be excluded from the scope of this Directive:

a) safety components intended to be used as spare parts to replace identical components, and supplied by the manufacturer of the original machine;
b) specific equipment for fairs and amusement parks;
c) machinery specially designed or put into service for nuclear uses and whose failures could lead to a release of radioactivity;
d) arms, including firearms;
e) the following means of transport:

— agricultural and forestry tractors for the risks covered by Directive 2003/37/EC, excluding machines fitted to those vehicles,

— motor vehicles and their trailers covered by Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (1), excluding machinery installed on such vehicles,

— vehicles covered by Directive 2002/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 March 2002 relating to the type-approval of two or three-wheel motor vehicles (2), excluding machinery fitted to such vehicles,

— motor vehicles intended exclusively for competition, and

– means of transport by air, by water or by rail, excluding machinery installed on such means of transport;

f) sea-going vessels and mobile offshore units, as well as machinery installed on board such vessels and/or units;
g) machinery specially designed and manufactured for military or police purposes;
h) machinery specially designed and manufactured for research purposes for temporary use in laboratories;
i) mine shaft hoists;
j) machinery intended to lift or transport performers during artistic performances;
k) electrical and electronic products which fall within the following scopes, in so far as they are covered by Council Directive 73/23/EEC of 19 February 1973 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (3):

— domestic electrical appliances,

audiovisual equipment,

— information technology equipment,

— standard office machines,

— low-voltage switchgear and controlgear,

— electric motors;