ISO 14121-1, a new machinery risk assessment standard

Accidents can involve several people at a time, as in a train crash, or be confined to a nonetheless potentially serious incident in a workplace or home. As a result, individuals can suffer irreversible injuries or even death. Society might have to nurse and support the affected person and his or her family. If the accident is at a workplace, the employer might need to replace a costly machine and cover medical expenses, resulting in significant economic loss.

With the new ISO 14121-1:2007, Safety of machinery - Risk assessment - Part 1: Principles, manufacturers will be able to identify risks during the design stage of production and hence prevent future accidents. The risk assessment guidelines provided in the standard are presented as a series of logical steps. These will help designers to determine systematically the limits of the machinery, identify risks of hazards such as radiation, burning or electrocution, and estimate potential dangers ranging from machine failure to human error.

Iterative process

The information obtained through this process enables designers to determine whether a machine is adequately safe or not. If the machine is not found to be adequately safe, this information will be valuable for the subsequent risk reduction stage. The process can then be repeated until the machine is established as adequately safe for use.

In particular, ISO 14121-1:2007 establishes general principles intended to be used to meet the risk reduction objectives established in ISO 12100-1:2003, Clause 5. These principles of risk assessment bring together knowledge and experience of the design, use, incidents, accidents and harm related to machinery in order to assess the risks posed during the relevant phases of the life cycle of a machine.

The new standard provides guidance on the information that will be required to enable a risk assessment to be carried out. Procedures are described for identifying hazards and estimating and evaluating risk. It also gives guidance on the making of decisions relating to the safety of machinery and on the type of documentation required to verify the risk assessment carried out.

Part 2, examples

ISO 14121-1 will also form the basis for the development of further standards dealing with specific safety aspects or safeguards, or for more detailed safety requirements in particular machines. ISO/TR 14121-2, Safety of machinery - Risk assessment - Part 2: Practical guidance and examples of methods, is now available. MachineBuilding.net has written a review of ISO/TR 14121-2.

ISO 14121-1 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 199, Safety of machinery, which works together with industry, health and safety bodies, authorities, unions, employers' associations and international organisations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop standards that reduce the risks of injury from machinery at work, home and during leisure activities.

ISO 14121-1:2007, Safety of machinery - Risk assessment - Part 1: Principles, costs 114 Swiss francs and is available from ISO national member institutes (eg BSI in the UK) and from the ISO Central Secretariat.