13.08.19

Operating instructions for machines
 
On 03.07.2019, the standard EN ISO 20607:2019 Safety of machinery - Instruction handbooks - General principles for design was published as Type B standard (basic safety standards) by the European Standards Institute (CEN).  The national standards institutes will publish the EN ISO 20607 standard in the next 6 months as ÖNORM EN ISO, DIN EN ISO, etc.
 
The standard was drawn up as an aid for machine manufacturers in drafting operating instructions and offers further specifications for general requirements for accompanying documents (in particular operating instructions), as specified in EN ISO 12100:2010 Safety of machinery - General principles for design - Risk assessment and risk reduction.  Furthermore, the standard largely specifies the relevant requirements of Annex I, in particular Section 1.7.4 of the instruction handbook, of the EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC.
 
The aim of this standard is to improve the safety specifications and the legibility/user-friendliness of operating instructions for a machine.
 
The new instruction handbook standard for machines deals, among other things, with
  •  the safety-related content, the associated structure, e.g. contents/structure of operating instructions with introduction, safety, machine description, ... , submission of a fault list for troubleshooting, etc.
  •  the wording in the instruction handbook, e.g. structure of sentences, use of verbs, etc.
  • the form of presentation in the instruction handbook, e.g. font and font size, use of colours, etc.
taking into account all life phases of a machine.
 
The term "machine" also applies to machinery which is arranged and controlled in such a way that it functions as a unified whole in order to achieve the same objective.
 
Furthermore, the following applies to the preparation of an operating manual
  •  the requirements for the contents of the operating instructions in accordance with the applicable Type C standard (machine safety standard)
  • the risk assessment with the risk mitigation measures as a basis for the warning of residual risks
have to be taken into account.
 
In addition to standard EN ISO 20607 for instruction handbooks for machinery, standard EN 82079-1 "Production of instruction handbooks - Structure, content and presentation - Part 1: General principles and detailed requirements for the wording of all types of instruction handbooks" continues to apply.