Initial Inspection

When a piece of safety equipment is fixed to a machine it must be checked to ensure that it is safe to use. It must also be checked to ensure that the equipment fitted meets the safety level (SIL or PL) specified in the initial safety document.

It is important to establish that the safety equipment has been installed correctly, meets all the requirements of the specification and does not create any other potential areas for accidents to occur. It is therefore very important that a full safety document was drawn up in the first place and all potential safety risk were established.

When a light curtain is fitted to a piece of machinery the application is covered by the requirements of HSG180. The initial inspection requirement of HSG180 are included here.

Other equipment may have particular appropriate HSE requirements or applicable British Standards or may be incorporated into the overall scheme.

Attention should also be paid to the effect that adding one more piece of safety equipment to an existing scheme may cause. Manufacture’s data must be analysed to see if the equipment will reduce the current safety level and  so mean that the new arrangement does not meet the initial SIL level specified.