What is BS EN 619 - Continuous handling equipment safety about?
One in a series of five European standards on continuous handling equipment and systems, BS EN 619 covers the safety of systems designed to handle unit loads, which mainly take the form of mobile, chain, roller, or belt conveyors.
Who is BS EN 619 - Continuous handling equipment safety for?
BS EN 619 on continuous handling equipment safety can be used by:
- Machine manufacturers
- Health and safety bodies (regulators, accident prevention organizations, market surveillance, etc.)
- Machine users/employers
- Machine users/employees
- Service providers, e.g., for maintenance
- Consumers (in case of machinery intended for use by consumers)
What does BS EN 619 - Continuous handling equipment safety cover?
BS EN 619 on continuous handling equipment safety deals with requirements for the design, transport, installation, commissioning, operation, adjustment, maintenance and cleaning of mechanical handling device machines in order to minimize mechanical, electrical, thermal, and noise-generated hazards, plus those arising from the neglect of ergonomic considerations, the failure of energy supply, and missing or incorrectly positioned safety measures/means. It also deals with safety-related technical verification during commissioning.
BS EN 619 applies to mechanical handling devices including but not limited to mobile conveyors, belt conveyors, roller conveyors, chain conveyors, etc., singly or combined to form a conveyor system, and designed exclusively for moving unit loads continuously on a predefined route from the loading to the unloading points, possibly with varying speed or cyclically.
In general, it also applies to conveyors built into machines or attached to machines if not stated otherwise in a machine specific standard. It also covers baggage carousels and check-in conveyors in airports. Safety requirements and/or measures in this document apply to equipment used in all environments.
Why should you use BS EN 619 - Continuous handling equipment safety?
- It increases safety by helping reduce the hazards associated with the operation and maintenance of continuous handling equipment and systems
- The revision extends the types of equipment covered (see below)
- The standard has been strengthened by the introduction of new concepts, updated figures and some tighter requirements
- The revision aligns the standard with the latest rules for drafting and presenting safety standards in CEN Guide 414:2017
- The standard can help users strengthen their risk management and develop their expertise
- It can increase the confidence of users and the market acceptability of equipment
What’s new about BS EN 619 - Continuous handling equipment safety?
This is a revision of BS EN 619:2002+A1:2010. The major changes in BS EN 619:2022 are that:
- It has been adapted to CEN Guide 414:2017 on the rules for drafting machinery safety standards
- It extends its scope to cover telescopic conveyors, sorters, vertical switch conveyors, check-in conveyors, reclaim conveyors and rail guided floor track conveyors
- It introduces the area concept, subdividing locations in a company with defined boundaries
- It prevents access across the load entry/exit points in dependence of different areas
- It specifies the maximum speeds depending on the mass and on the different areas
- It introduces requirements for noise reduction and determination of noise test code
- It lists required performance levels for safety related parts of control systems
- It improves the verification of safety requirements and/or measures
- It adds/updates figures in the annexes
- It provides more detailed descriptions of safety requirements/measures for the single types of conveyors
BS EN 619 contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure and Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production.