KAN Report 3

	Definition of the need for standardization to establish vibration parameters, 03/1996, T. Schenk (884 KB)
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Summary

This analysis examines directives, laws and other legal regulations and standards which have been compiled for the field of mechanical vibrations or are significant for this field. Relevant documents concerning European legislation and standards and their transition to corresponding German regulations were looked at in particular.

The main aim of the study was to establish the development status of vibration protection in the regulations and standards based on Articles 100a and 118a of the EC Treaty, to determine the possibility of relating these regulations to each other and to ascertain the need for action in order to regulate questions remaining unanswered. As far as standards needed to complete the EC machinery directive are concerned, the main emphasis was on test specifications for establishing the parameters of vibrations produced by machines.

The results of the study show that the set of European rules governing occupational health and safety currently being compiled can guarantee workers sufficient protection against the effects of mechanical vibrations. Although this set of rules is still being developed and several key directives are still being discussed, it is foreseeable that it will be possible to preserve the German level of protection against vibration for the main part. Further improvements are possible in certain cases.

Existing standards, draft standards and standardization projects were examined depending on their classification in the groups machinery safety, emission measurements, immission measurements, reduction, measuring technique and general. The set of European standards is structured logically and consistently. Some of the individual components required in this set of standards already exist, most of them are still being prepared and, in some cases, have only been thought about as a possible topic. Due to a preference for adopting international standards, a lower technical level compared with German standardization has emerged in some cases. Thanks to plans for drafting European standards, however, these cases will be eradicated in the foreseeable future. The study reveals that there is still a slight need for standardization.

There were no serious conflicts with regard to areas to be exempted from standardization.