The owner is obliged to provide a structure that is safe to use and maintain, and the government (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) is increasingly overseeing this. Within its focus area of safety, INNOCY provides services that cover the entire lifecycle of infrastructure structures, including the topic of machine safety.
Machinery Regulation
The transition period between the Machinery Directive and the Machinery Regulation ends on January 14, 2027, after which all European member states must comply with the Machinery Regulation. “The Machinery Directive is outdated,” says Ashutosh Joerawan, Safety Advisor at INNOCY. “With the Machinery Regulation, it becomes more stringent, clearer, and future-oriented, addressing aspects such as digitalization, AI, cybersecurity, and IoT. The 'grey areas' regarding whether or not the regulation applies will be eliminated. We are already noticing quite a few interpretation differences in the requirements of the Machinery Directive. The Machinery Regulation will not allow this flexibility anymore.”
Focus Area of Safety
Safety is an important focus area for INNOCY, ranging from occupational safety, integral safety, and machine safety to tunnel safety, water safety, environmental safety, and even railway safety with ProRail. “We monitor the process, both from the client and contractor sides,” explains Ashutosh. “In infrastructure, machine safety is an especially challenging specialty because multiple disciplines and suppliers collaborate to deliver 'the machine.' Whether it’s a new build or a renovation of a structure, it’s a combination of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, control engineering, etc. Each of these disciplines addresses machine safety in their own way. All of this must be documented and compiled into one file. This also applies to renovation projects, where you are dealing with outdated installation parts that may not have been designed with safety in mind. In the 'new' situation, you will need to clearly define the boundaries of the machine. For example, a lock chamber is not a machine—only the drive mechanism and its immediate surroundings are. This means that in such cases, fewer aspects can be considered when it comes to machine safety.”
3B Building Blocks
Ashutosh is currently working with INNOCY as a technical manager and machine safety specialist for Rijkswaterstaat. He oversees the proper implementation of the 3B building blocks. “Every infrastructure structure must be operated, controlled, and monitored (3B). With the 3B building blocks, these functions are always fulfilled in a uniform way, allowing Rijkswaterstaat to have better insight into its assets in terms of safety, reliability, availability, and maintainability. My task is to contribute to the development of the 3B system and guide a solution that is applicable to the respective structure. Additionally, taking the manager’s requirements into account, there will always be a degree of customization. These solutions are always aligned with laws and regulations, especially concerning machine safety.”
Black Box
Although a 3B building block does not meet the definition of a machine, it is still a crucial part of an infrastructure structure, emphasizes Ashutosh. “You could actually consider a building block as a machine, and deliver it as such. This way, a complete file is created with all the proof burdens, risk assessments, drawing packages, manuals, etc. The building block, in turn, forms a ‘black box’ for the civil contractor, where all field components and other subsystems can be connected.”
Standardization
According to Ashutosh, uniformity is the primary reason why Rijkswaterstaat started with the building blocks. “There is a clear picture of all the components and how everything works. They have much better visibility into lifecycle management, and thus management and maintenance costs. This allows them to know exactly when to perform maintenance on the building block. It’s a form of standardization in the market where machine safety is included, and in which we can play a significant role by fulfilling the function of machine safety expert within an organization like Rijkswaterstaat, as well as with provinces and municipalities. From INNOCY, we are so deeply embedded in the market, both on the client and contractor sides, that we are eager to take a leading role in this.”