Posted By Paul Elliott Our waste minimalisation department have taken delivery of several 'Kan Krushers'. Basically these are a device that is fixed to a wall to crush cans by placing a can between two plates and pulling a lever downward. I would like to know where we stand with regard to CE marking. The manufacturer states that there is no category that they could fall into and that the HSE were involved in an advisory capacity at the design stage. Is there anyone who may be able to advise me on this topic? Thanks

Posted By Jim Walker I would say your can crusher is a machine (Supply of Machinery (safety) Regulations 1992 definition: “an assembly of linked parts or components, at least one of which moves”). Your can crusher is exempt from the requirements of the Machinery Directive because there is an specific exemption for “machinery whose only power source is directly applied manual effort”. However, in my opinion, PUWER applies i.e. you need to assess the risks. I’ve commented elsewhere on this forum that relying on “CE marks” to ensure safe equipment is unsafe practice. This is a widely held view I have received from people far more expert, than I profess to be. I think it is highly unlikely that HSE would be involved in or comment on equipment design, I suggest you ask the manufacturer for details of this collaboration. This may well bring in howls of protest, but I suspect the HSE have very few staff capable of advising, anyway. Any manufacturer who does not give your valid request a sensible reply has got to be suspect. If you plan to do a risk assessment, have a look at PD 5304:2000 published by BSI. I suggest you ask yourself if it is possible to get a finger tip (or worst) trapped/crushed etc in the machine. The argument on the manual effort required, suggests as soon as you start to crush the trapped digit, you would stop applying force and thus avoid serious injury. Does the machine allow release at this point? Some might have a one-way ratchet. Might one person be feeding (cans) and another applying the force – even if it is designed for one person operation. Usual gap size to restrict access of fingers to moving parts is 6mm, but what about children – technical advice (more detail) on this can be found in BS EN 294:1992.

Posted By Laurie CE Labels cost £27.60 per 250, and can also be produced on any computer. From a safety standpoint they are not worth the glue they are stuck on with Laurie