AFRY prepared for the new Machinery Regulation

After years of information gathering, investigations and negotiations, finally, the Machinery Regulation is a formal name with an ID: 2023/1230

There are major changes that will have a significant impact on many manufacturers. The updated regulation covers important objectives such as improved safety for traditional technologies, coherence with other New legislative framework (NLF) and reducing possible divergence in interpretation.

Today the document was published at Eur-Lex and the 42 months transition period has been initiated. The Machinery regulation 2023/1230 will come into full force on January 14th 2027.

The major changes are:

• The Machinery Directive becomes the Machinery Regulation, meaning that it does not need to be transposed into national legislation. Instead, it will have the exactly same effect in all EU countries.
• The new regulation cover risks related to digitalization such as AI and machine learning.
• Digital documentation, the possibility to deliver instructions for use in a digital format. This change is expected to have a cost saving effect of ca €16+ billion per year.
• Addition of software related products into the High-risk machinery Annex, meaning that these software require a 3rd party (notified body approval).
• Other major changes in areas of market surveillance, notified body approvals et cetera

Some Minor changes to consider

Several updates have been added to the Essential Health and Safety Requirements such as:

• The possibility for the user to test the safety functions
• Ergonomics: the interface between Human and Machine
• Protection against corruption
• Several updates in the control system requirements
• Addition of risk related to psychological stress

AFRY is prepared and ready for the change

To ensure that we give the best advice and solutions for our customers AFRY has closely followed the development of the Machinery Directive and the creation of the new Machinery Regulation. It is a massive commitment to keep up with every aspect of requirements through out the wide range of industries that AFRY covers. Our dedicated task force consists of about 20 specialists in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. They are experts in CE marking and Machinery Safety with years of experience from basically every industry.

The manufacturing sector is going to experience the biggest shift in regulation since 1995, therefore AFRY has already developed a quality assured way of working to support our clients. Some of our clients have already successfully started to apply this new approach, says Igor Bogunic, head of the task force.

Igor also reveals glimpses of a plan, that is about to start right after the summer holidays. A seminar on the new machinery regulation will go on a roadshow and tour through the Nordic countries.

Everybody wins on collaboration, we have a lot of knowledge that we are happy to share and in return we always learn something new from the discussions with the audience. We will visit the major cities in Sweden, from north to south, and as many cities in the Nordics as possible, Igor promises.