On this page
- Buy the published European edition
- What this document helps you select
- Separate the document choices
- What to ask a risk-assessment supplier
- Compare the work, not just the document count
- Example: adding automatic loading to a manual station
- Edition and project checks
- Frequently asked questions
- Related purchasing guidance
Buy the published European edition
What this document helps you select
The public scope describes terminology and a machinery-design methodology for identifying hazards, assessing risks and selecting risk reduction over relevant life-cycle phases. It also addresses documentation of that process. It does not address damage to property, the environment or domestic animals.
For a buyer, the useful distinction is between commissioning a documented decision process and purchasing a particular protective measure. A supplier can provide a guard or safety controller while leaving the assessment of the complete machine outside its quotation. Resolve that boundary before assuming the equipment order includes the engineering work.
Separate the document choices
| Decision | Purchasing approach |
|---|---|
| Whole-machine risk assessment | Examine EN ISO 12100 and define the assessment object. |
| A named machine type | Ask the designer which narrower product standard is relevant. |
| Guard package | Separate guard construction, interlocking and control-system work. |
| Existing-machine change | Identify the changed functions and retained evidence before selecting an edition. |
Do not order an entire safety library simply because its titles sound relevant. Ask the technical lead to explain the role of each proposed publication and record the reason it is needed for this machine.
What to ask a risk-assessment supplier
- Boundary: which machines, accessories, operating modes and interfaces are included, and which belong to another party?
- Information: what drawings, operating experience and maintenance descriptions must you provide before work starts?
- Participation: who will represent design, production, operation and servicing when assumptions are discussed?
- Deliverable: how will hazards, decisions, unresolved questions and supporting evidence be identified?
- Change handling: who updates the assessment when the specification, tooling or installation changes?
These are original procurement questions, rather than a reproduction of the standard's required procedure. They help compare service quotations that otherwise promise the same “risk assessment” while offering different levels of access, analysis and follow-up.
Compare the work, not just the document count
One quotation may cover a workshop and a report; another may include visits to the installed machine, review of supplier evidence and a defined process for closing questions. Ask each bidder to identify what would stop it reaching a conclusion. A missing installation drawing or unavailable maintenance representative can matter more than the number of pages promised.
Agree how you will receive and maintain the deliverable. A report with unidentified assumptions is difficult to reuse when the machine changes. An index linking decisions to drawings and revisions makes later purchasing and engineering reviews more manageable.
Example: adding automatic loading to a manual station
A manufacturer adds an automatic loader to a manually operated assembly station. The equipment quotation includes guarding and a control cabinet, but the buyer cannot see who assesses the combined arrangement.
The project team writes a boundary brief covering material entry, operator tasks, clearing faults and maintenance access. It asks the loader supplier and assessment provider to identify their respective responsibilities and information needs. The agreed document order includes EN ISO 12100 for the overall assessment discussion and narrower references selected by the responsible designer. The team keeps a register of unresolved interfaces instead of treating the component suppliers' statements as approval of the integrated station.
This fictional example illustrates procurement decisions. It does not determine which protective measures make the installation safe.
Edition and project checks
Copy the contractual reference exactly and preserve the reason an older edition was used in existing evidence. A new catalogue entry or draft does not explain how an accepted project should change. Ask the project owner to resolve any difference between the contract, supplier proposal and planned assessment.
Check legal applicability and any claimed harmonised citation separately with the responsible specialist. This guide identifies a document purchase; it does not claim that buying or applying it completes a conformity procedure.
Frequently asked questions
Will the standard choose a protective measure for my machine?
Use the document within a competent assessment of the actual machine. A purchasing guide cannot decide the suitable design from the machine's commercial name.
Should I buy the draft successor?
Only when the assignment specifically needs a draft review. The linked product is the published 2010 European edition.
Does a supplier's risk-assessment report cover installation changes?
Ask for its boundary and assumptions, compare the actual installation, and assign responsibility for evaluating differences.
Related purchasing guidance
Use the machinery standards overview and the control-system design guide to organise the wider document set.