2006/733/EC: Commission Decision of 27 October 2006 not to publish the reference of standard EN ISO 14122-4:2004 Safety of machinery — Permanent means of access to machinery — Part 4: Fixed ladders in accordance with Directive 98/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document number C(2006) 5062)   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-10-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European standard, machinery, product safety, safety standard, technical standard, tool industry

L 299/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.10.2006

COMMISSION DECISION

of 27 October 2006

not to publish the reference of standard EN ISO 14122-4:2004 ‘Safety of machinery — Permanent
means of access to machinery — Part 4: Fixed ladders’ in accordance with Directive 98/37/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council

(notified under document number C(2006) 5062)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2006/733/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

regard to Directive 98/37/EC of

Having
the European
Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 on the approx-
imation of
relating to
machinery (1), and in particular Article 6(1) thereof,

the Member States

laws of

the

Having regard to the opinion of the Standing Committee set up
the European
under Article 5 of Directive 98/34/EC of
Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down
a procedure for the provision of information in the field of
technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information
Society services (2),

Whereas:

(1)

Directive 98/37/EC provides that machinery may be
placed on the market and put into service only if it
does not endanger
the safety of persons, domestic
animals or goods, when properly installed and main-
tained and used for its intended purpose.

(2) Where a national standard transposing a harmonised
standard, the reference of which has been published in
the Official Journal of the European Union, covers one or
more essential health and safety requirements set out in
Annex I to Directive 98/37/EC, the machine built in
accordance with this standard is presumed to meet the
essential requirements concerned.

(3)

Pursuant to Article 6(1) of Directive 98/37/EC, France
lodged a
standard
formal objection in respect of
EN ISO 14122-4:2004 adopted by the European
Committee for Standardisation (CEN) on 18 March
reference of which has not yet been
2003,
Journal of the European Union.
published in the Official

the

(1) OJ L 207, 23.7.1998, p. 1. Directive as amended by Directive

98/79/EC (OJ L 331, 7.12.1998, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37. Directive as last amended by the 2003

Act of Accession.

in its clauses 4.3.2 (choice of

Having examined standard EN ISO 14122-4:2004, the
Commission has established that the specifications set
out
fall
in conjunction with clauses 6.2
protection device)
(instructions for use) and 6.3 (marking)
to meet
essential requirements 1.1.2(b) (principles of safety inte-
gration), 1.5.15 (risk of slipping, tripping or falling) and
1.6.2 (access to operating positions and servicing points)
of Annex I to Directive 98/37/EC.

the type of

fail

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Specifically, the technical solution described in standard
EN ISO 14122-4:2004 — a fall arrester — does not
prevent a fall
It only limits the
consequences of a fall and requires deliberate action on
the part of
to use personal protective
equipment (PPE).

from a fixed ladder.

the operator

Fall arresters have several major disadvantages. First, they
put constraint on the operator. This may result
in
operators, and in particular those performing frequent
maintenance operations,
failing to equip themselves
with the PPE before using a fixed ladder. Second, they
create secondary hazards in the event of an operator
falling and hitting the fixed parts of the machine or
if there is not minimum clearance below
installation,
the operator. Moreover,
this unobstructed area must
necessarily be larger than the enclosed area required by
a cage. Third, they constitute an organisational constraint
for companies (management of PPE, need for compat-
ibility between the PPE and the anchorage system). This
constraint can lead to malfunctions, which in turn can
lead to accidents.

In contradiction with essential requirement 1.1.2.(b) of
Annex I to Directive 98/37/EC, clauses 4.3.2, 6.2 and
6.3 of standard EN ISO 14122-4:2004 put requirements
for integrated protective measures (the cage) on the same
level as those suitable only for residual risks (PPE).

The purpose of a standard such as EN ISO 14122-
4:2004 is to deal with an aspect of safety relating to a
wide range of machinery, and not with specific cases. If,
for a specific type of machinery, essential requirements
1.1.2, 1.5.15 and 1.6.2 of Annex I to Directive 98/37/EC
cannot be fully satisfied, a standard for that
type of
machinery may specify the alternative measures to be
taken.

28.10.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 299/31

(9)

The reference of standard EN ISO 14122-4:2004 should
therefore not be published in the Official Journal of the
European Union,

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Done at Brussels, 27 October 2006.

Article 1

The reference of standard EN ISO 14122-4:2004 ‘Safety of
machinery — Permanent means of access to machinery —
Part 4: Fixed ladders’ shall not be published in the Official
Journal of the European Union.

For the Commission

Günter VERHEUGEN
Vice-President