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The
1st english edition of this brochure
contains all important changes in European
and national legislation as regards safe
machinery which came into force after
the editorial deadline of the 8th german
edition in February 2007. This is why it became
necessary to update, among others,
the Appendices I
to IX.
On
9 July 2006 the new EC Machinery
Directive was published in the Official
Journal of the European Union. The provisions
of the Directive must and may only
be applied as from 29
December 2009.
Until that date, the provisions of the current
Directive
98/37/EC continue to apply.
The brochure on hand was adapted
to
the new and changed legal bases of
the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC,
without changing the reader-friendly
structures.
The
development of European legislation
concerning occupational safety has led
to a nationalisation of occupational safety
regulations. Since October 2002 the relevant
German statutory regulation for the
provision and use of work equipment is the
Ordinance on
Industrial Safety and
Health (Betriebssicherheitsverordnung –
BetrSichV). Due to the precedence of this
governmental ordinance on 1 January 2004
and 2005, among others, many machinespecific
accident prevention regulations
were withdrawn. Nevertheless, these regulations
still remain relevant for old machinery.
Further information can be found in
Chapters 6, 11 and 12.
For almost 36 years the Equipment Safety
Act (Gerätesicherheitsgesetz – GSG) of
3
24 June 1968, which during that time
underwent several amendments, was the
legal basis for the bringing in circulation and
display of technical work equipment in
Germany. The Product
Safety Law (Produktsicherheitsgesetz
– ProdSG) of 22
April 1997 regulated the bringing into circulation
of products for private use by consumers.
Capital equipment, such as commercially
used machines and production
facilities and other products destined for
occupational use were not affected by this
law.
Both lawswere consolidated into an Equipment
and Product Safety Act (Geräte-
und Produktsicherheitsgesetz –
GPSG). With this new regulation the European
General Product Safety Directive
2001/95/EC was transposed into national
law. Basic information on the Equipment
and Product Safety Act can be found in
Appendix
VII of this brochure. The effects
of the law are described in Chapters
2, 7,
8, 13 and 15.
The EU enlargement of 1 May 2004 by 10
member states expanded the European
Economic Area from 18 to 28 countries.
In 2007 two additional countries acceded.
More information on the EU enlargement
can be found in Chapters
1, 12 and
13.
Current information on the national transposition
of the EC occupational safety
directives “Electromagnetic Fields” and
“Artificial Optical Radiation” are contained
in Appendix VIII.
Appendix
IX contains
details on standardisation.
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