We’ll – from where I stand it’s been since 1999 that the voluntary consensus standards began their migration march of updating approaches for machine safe guarding. That first standard was RIA 15.06 for industrial robots. One of many changes of this updated standard was the requirement to conduct a risk analysis on all robots within two years. The next major standard to update and provide new approaches to machine guarding was NFPA 79’s release in 2002. The major enhancements with this change include the opportunity to apply safety PLC’s, the ability to install e-stops on a safety certified bus, and the elimination of the mandate to hard wire all safety circuits. All of these changes are to some point driven by the desire for harmonization with European standards.

Since this beginning of the migration march for new opportunities in machine safe guarding, many more of our standards are falling in line and adopting these new concepts. Several that come to mind include:

1.      ANSI B11.TR3- 2000, Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction

2.      ANSI B11.TR4-2004, Selection of Programmable Electronic Systems (PES/PLC) for Machine Tools

3.      ANSI Z244.1-2003, Control of Hazardous Energy

4.      ANSI/PMMI B155.1-2006, Safety Requirements for Packaging Machinery

5.      NFPA 79-2007, Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery

6.      SEMI S2, Safety Guidelines for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment

Several more consensus standards are in committee as we speak and will be publishing approved updates within months further confirming that a major paradigm shift has been underway for nearly eight years in the US. Throughout this time OSHA has done nothing I’m aware of to openly acknowledge any of these changes.

So – is there anyone out there who can write a comment into this blog and give us any clue to what OSHA is doing to update their 29CFR 1910 series of regulations?