Legislation Press safety and certification .1 Accident prevention

3.6.2 Legislation

Alo n gsid e legislat io n an d regu lat io n s d efin in g req u irem en t s im p o sed o n t ech n ical p ro d u ct s – su ch as t h e Germ an Pressu re Vessel an d Ap p li- an ce Safet y Act s – legislat io n h as also been ad o p t ed wh ich regu lat es cas- es o f h u m an in ju ry cau sed by t ech n ical eq u ip m en t . If t h e m ach in e m an u fact u rer ad h eres t o t h e t ech n o lo gical st an d ard s d efin ed by t h e so - called ch aract erist ic req u irem en t s, it m ay be assu m ed t h at h e will be exem p t fro m liabilit y. An accid en t t akin g p lace d esp it e t h ese p recau - t io n s is d efin ed as a “st at u t o ry accid en t ”, in wh ich case t h e co m p an ies p ro vid in g in d u st rial accid en t in su ran ce are resp o n sible fo r set t lin g an y fin an cial claim s arisin g as a resu lt o f t h e d am age. In Eu ro p e, t h ese ch aract erist ic req u irem en t s are d efin ed by t h e EC Mach in e Direct ive, t h e EMC elect ro m agn et ic co m p at ibilit y Direct ive an d t h e Direct ive Go vern in g Sim p le Pressu re Vessels. Pro d u ct liabilit y is also t reat ed o n a st an d ard ized basis in Eu ro p e t h ro u gh t h e EC Direct ive fo r Harm o n izat io n o f Pro d u ct Liabilit y Legislat io n . In t h e case o f p art icu larly d an gero u s m ach in es, st at e agen cies o r in st it u t io n s act in g o n beh alf o f st at e agen cies are co m m issio n ed t o ch eck an d cert ify eq u ip m en t p ro vid ed t h e t ech n ical req u irem en t s o f t h e eq u ip m en t h ave been co rrect ly im p lem en t ed . Fo reign t rad e in t ech - n ical p ro d u ct s is o bst ru ct ed t o a co n sid erable d egree by d ifferen ces o f o p in io n o n t h e best ways t o ach ieve safet y an d o n t h e t arget ed st an - d ard s o f safet y in t h e in d ivid u al co u n t ries. Mach in e m an u fact u rers o p erat in g o n a glo bal basis n eed t o st u d y t h e n u m ero u s d ifferen t safet y req u irem en t s an d st an d ard s in fo rce in each d ifferen t exp o rt m arket . Th u s, t h ey m u st beco m e fam iliar wit h t h e d ifferen t safet y p h ilo so p h ies, an d m u st u se lo cally ap p ro ved co m p o n en t s.

3.6.3 European safety requirements