I am confused! Our technical dept. have just bought a big new copy router which is is to all intent and purpose a woodworking machine (although we only machine plastic with it). They made an assumption when buying it that because it was CE marked and had a certificate of conformity it would be safe to use straight off the pallet (I know we would have to do a local RA etc., but you get what I mean). I have looked at it however and upset them greatly by telling them it certainly isn't safe. It has a two handed operation on the lower cutter, but the two buttons can be easily operated with a single hand, leaving the other hand free to touch the rotating cutter (which is unguarded except for a small debris deflection screen). Both sets of 'two button' operation can be easily defeated by taping one button down (there is no timed safety circuit to prevent this). Also it does not have a braked motor on either cutter (the rotating bit does stop within 10 secs, but there is no actual brake on the motor nor is any other electronic braking device fitted - we are worried that over time, as it ages it will not stop so quickly). Lastly, the control levers for the upper cutter are so high off the ground that the majority of our guys would have to stand on tippy toes to reach them (they are not inherently adjustable either - the levers that is, not our guys....). This machine is from a well know european manufacturer and supplied via an equally well known machinery supplier in the UK. So the million dollar question is - what has gone wrong here? Am I misunderstanding the regulations and associated safety requirements, or have they supplied something unfit for purpose? If the latter, how did it manage to get a certificate of conformity? I am taking quite a lot of flak from certain elements of the management who think I am wrong in my assessment and we should just rely on the guys to not try to overcome it (and I am not too big to admit it if I am!!), so if there are any machinery safety gurus out there I would love to know if anyone has experienced this before and If I am being over zealous! In the meantime incidentally, we have locked it off and will not use it until we get the supplier in for a discussion. If necesary we can modify it ourselves in-house, but that seems a little ridiculous for a brand new machine. Stu

There are a lot of ifs and buts here but it does sound like they have CE marked this piece of kit and issued the certification themselves, which they are perfectly entitled to do. The should be a technical file with the equipment which will list the harmonised standards against which the the equipment was judged to have conformed.

I agree with Smitch. Check the D of C to see what standards have been applied. Remember though that if it is built to a harmonised standard the manufacturer is entitled to CE mark and declare conformity. That does not mean that it is safe enough for your environment. I've felt for a long time that the harmonised standards are often just descriptions of machines that exist, and sometimes aren't stringent enough to ensure safety. Certainly the type of 2-hand control you describe does not comply with BS EN 60204-1 "Electrical equipment of machines". The stopping time doesn't seem to be a problem - if there's no brake, why should it take longer to stop as it ages? How often do the upper control levers need to be accessed? PM me if I can help further - I'm not a consultant, but work with machinery safety standards.