Are your resources still safe?

In Switzerland, compliance with the state of the art with regard to occupational safety is required by law in the Accident Insurance Act (UVG). Article 82 of the UVG defines the employer's obligations: "The employer is obliged to take all measures for the prevention of occupational accidents and occupational diseases that are necessary according to experience, applicable according to the state of the art and appropriate to the given circumstances." It follows that the regular assessment of compliance and, if necessary, the restoration of the state of the art must be ensured by the employer. In practice, this often fails because there are no simple, clear or unambiguous yes/no criteria for the review. In order to comply with the state of the art, it is necessary to understand precisely what is required of it.

What is "state of the art"?

The state of the art defines the safe and non-hazardous design of a piece of equipment for the user, such as a machine used in industry. The requirement relates to the proper use of the equipment, taking into account interactions and substances used. In addition to legal and normative requirements, the state of the art takes into account the technical possibilities available at the time, even if they are protected by patent, as well as the proportionality of the measures with regard to the required protective effect and the costs. In addition to the technical measures, it also defines the necessary supplementary organisational and personal protective measures in order to reduce the residual risk to an acceptable level without making concessions to technical protective measures.

This definition shows the complexity of the state of the art. Expertise is not only required in technical terms. Laws and harmonized (technical) standards must also be taken into account. The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is of particular relevance. It defines the obligation to comply with the state of the art, both for the person placing a machine on the market and for the operator. This is relevant for the latter because the state of the art continues to develop. Existing equipment must be examined for deviations from the state of the art, e.g. by comparing it with the applicable technical standards or, if no such standards exist, by means of a risk assessment. Depending on the results, additional technical protective measures must be implemented. The risk matrix with three tolerance ranges (Fig. 1) indicates a need for action in the area of conditionally acceptable and unacceptable risks. In this context, two criteria are particularly important:

-- For the classification of risks as acceptable / unacceptable, it is necessary to take into account the knowledge gained in the industry during the use of this equipment, such as impact and probability. So-called near misses should also be included. Risk tolerance also depends on internal and external stakeholders.

-- There is no absolute grandfathering. In the event of damage, claims for compensation can be asserted if the state of the art is not complied with.

How often the state of the art has to be reviewed depends on the risk potential and the technical progress with reference to the equipment. This refers to the speed of development and the additional protective effect. On the other hand, a piece of equipment does not become unsafe simply because a new, safer one is available on the market.

Procure optimum operating resources

The requirement for the state of the art arises even before the purchase of a piece of equipment. The CE declaration of conformity is only valid if the equipment is subsequently operated within its intended use. This forces the future operator of the equipment to think about basic requirements, e.g.:

--Which spatial and environmental conditions must be taken into account?

-- connection to upstream and downstream processes?

--What is processed (material and substance properties)?

--What quantities are to be handled (performance of the machine)?

State of the art and risk management

The Ordinance on Accident Prevention (VUV) requires that the above steps be documented. But how does the operator ensure the implementation of the state of the

Is it safe to use technology related to occupational safety in industrial equipment? The solution approach is to integrate this process into the structure of the risk management standard SN ISO 31000:2018. The proposed process (Fig. 2) is based on the risk management process of SN ISO 31000:2018 (Fig. 2, top left). It contains the requirements relevant to the assessment of the state of the art. The building blocks are as follows (Figure 2):

(1): Procurement of the equipment: It must be known what purpose the equipment to be procured must fulfil.

(2): The most important distinguishing criteria for carrying out a risk assessment with reference to the state of the art are:

• (a) the delivery or modification of an item of equipment by the person placing it on the market; and
• b) Modification of the equipment or manufacturing process by the operator. Is the equipment still used within its intended purpose after the adaptation of the manufacturing process? If not, the CE declaration of conformity expires. The CE declaration of conformity may expire if the equipment is modified, e.g. if an additional function is added or the control system is modified. The risk assessment on which CE conformity is based must be re-evaluated with regard to the changes and existing protective measures. The documents defining the state of the art must be taken into account. If the equipment is modified or completely renewed by the operator himself, he becomes the person placing it on the market and must fulfil his obligations.

(3) and (4): Suva advises in the information leaflet "Work equipment. Safety starts with the purchase", Suva advises to check certain points before the initial commissioning. Depending on the hazard potential, it may be necessary to carry out exposure measurements.

(5), incl. (6) and (7): According to the findings cited above, it makes sense to review the state of the art regularly. (6) gives examples of reasons for a regular review. (7) shows the requirement for review in the case of technical and procedural changes.

(8): The end of life of the equipment or its decontamination and correct disposal must also be considered.

The process proposed above, if applied consistently, will achieve the following:

• A risk management process exists, which is based on the guidelines of SN ISO 31000:2018. This enables integration into an integrated management system, for example with SN ISO 45001:2018 on health and safety at work;
• The risk management process proposed in this paper ensures that the operator complies with the state of the art with regard to occupational safety for operating equipment and that it is regularly reviewed. The PDCA approach (Plan - Do - Check - Act) and continuous improvement are also integrated into the process.