JUNE 2021 | NEWS
LOOKING AHEAD: EU & UKCA REGULATIONS T
he UK has now left the EU and some rules and procedures changed from January 2021 but according to some in the
industry, confusion still remains about conforming to new standards and all eyes are on LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998) affecting all those who work in the lifting equipment sector, PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) and ACOP (Approved Code of Practice) for safe use of lifting equipment. Hoist catches up with two experts in this field; Andy Sutherland, technical manager, Tiger Lifting UK, and Ben Dobbs, head of technical services, Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), who was recently elected as a Charted Engineer of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), to get their perspective on what’s happening. According to the UK Government
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) agency, while many companies are waiting to see what EU regulation changes will come into force, their equipment still needs to meet the minimum European safety requirements or designated standards after January 1, 2022. This includes designing and constructing a product to meet relevant essential requirements; assembling evidence in a technical file to show how the product meets those essential requirements; submitting a sample for third party examination by a Notified Body; certifying the product’s compliance with a Declaration of Conformity document and affixing the CE/UKCA (Conformity Assessment) mark. “While all eyes are on EU machinery
directive regulations right now, they are very similar to British regulations and don’t change very often but everything is now in play following Brexit,” said Sutherland. “Various standards are up for review systematically and this includes Standard 157 (BSEN 13157 European Harmonised Standard) for manual cranes, which covers manual chain hoists. LEEA is currently driving a review of this standard but it is not yet known what the changes will be, if any. “With regards to changing EU
regulations and UKCA regulations, there’s little in the way of concrete information as the situation remains fluid. Currently
16 | June 2021 |
www.hoistmagazine.com R Ben Dobbs R Andy Sutherland
it’s a status quo until January 2022, where the CE mark will be accepted in the UK and EU, after this, the UKCA mark will be required within the UK (either on documentation or on a product) and then from January 2023 the UKCA mark must be marked directly onto a product.” LEEA did issue a guidance document
last year, however, this has since been withdrawn and it is advising people to look on the UK HSE website as this provides the “clearest” guidance under its FAQs - UK Marking - Work equipment and machinery heading. Dobbs is the principle expert on many
standards committees, notably BS, CEN and ISO, as well as ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and AS standards. He is also the LEEA liaison with the authorities in the UK and Europe and was involved in and contributed to the revised LOLER 2014 ACOP. “With respect to LOLER, nothing changes. The main change is to do with the supply of lifting equipment and placing on the market. I recently did a presentation for our members on this very subject to explain what has changed already and what is going to change in the future,” he said. For example, ‘Placing on the Market’;
means when made available in Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the EU for the first time; and applies to individual items of lifting equipment and not model or type. It applies to manufacture for own use; and includes GB - Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008[1] - Part 3 General prohibitions and obligations and the EU - National legislation that implements the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC or the directive itself. Also, on July 16, 2021, Regulation (EU)
2019/1020 – Market Surveillance and Compliance of Products Regulation
– will come into effect, which means manufactures may need to appoint an EU representative if there is no other economic operator in place, when exporting to the EU and NI. “On a standards level, all standards continue to be updated and revised with the most significant activity being on a CEN and ISO level, which is where most of my time has been spent of late. I assume there have been some improvements to ASME standards, but I am not involved with that at present,” added Dobbs. Most standards referring to a crane, hoist, derrick, or cableway to lift and move material, most likely originate from the ASME B30 Safety Standard part of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and refer to a suite of American National Standards with 30 volumes related to the design, installation, operation, inspection, and maintenance of different types of equipment utilized in construction processes. Every couple of years, the ASME B30 Committee reviews, revises, and amends its existing standards and releases a new edition (some revisions appear ths year). Dobbs added, the important thing to
be aware of is to be responsible for your own machinery. “I see a lot of incidences where the CE mark is used where it shouldn’t be and vice versa. No-one polices the products because it is more of a technical issue. However, if a situation occurs where something does goes wrong, the product will be inspected and the manufacturer could be at risk of negligence. And that is something they need to be aware of.” ●
To see the full interview with Ben Dobbs tune into Hoist’s new video TV series HMTV on the Hoist website
http://www.hoistmagazine.com/videos/
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