1.4.1 · General requirements

What it requires

1.4.1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 requires: robust guards and protective devices that do not create risks, are difficult to bypass and allow limited interventions. It is unchanged in substance compared with Directive 2006/42/EC and applies to machinery placed on the market from 20 January 2027.

What the instruction manual must reflect

Design requirement: no dedicated section is needed in the manual, but it must warn of any related residual risks (1.7.4.2(1)(l)) and explain any action the user has to take.

Official text

Guards and protective devices shall: (a) be of robust construction; (b) be securely held in place; (c) not give rise to any additional hazard; (d) not be easy to by-pass or render non-operational; (e) be located at an adequate distance from the danger zone; (f) cause minimum obstruction to the view of the production process, and; (g) enable essential work to be carried out on the installation and/or replacement of tools and for maintenance purposes by restricting access exclusively to the area where the work has to be done, if possible without the guard having to be removed or the protective device having to be disabled. In addition, guards shall, where possible, protect against the ejection or falling of materials or objects and against emissions generated by the machinery or related product.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, OJ L 165, 29.6.2023, Annex III, 1.4.1. The sections ‘What it requires’ and ‘What the instruction manual must reflect’ are our own summary and do not replace the official text.