MSD 98/37/EC - Machinery Safety Directive

MSD 98/37/EC (Machinery Safety Directive) of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 22, 1998 was published on January 1, 1993. It has been amended according to the 2006/42/EC. The directive is in approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery. It provides the harmonization of the essential health and safety requirements for machinery in the European Economic Area.

The Machinery Directive came into force on January 1, 1993 and has been mandatory since January 1, 1995. From that date, no machine can be placed in the European Economic Area or installed if it does not bear the CE marking.

According to the directive, machinery is “an assembly of linked parts or components,
at least one of which moves, with the appropriate actuators, control and power circuits, etc., joined together for a specific application, in particular for the processing, treatment, moving or packaging
of a material”. The manufacturer is responsible for verifying whether a particular product falls within
the scope of the Machinery Directive.

The directive both promotes the free movement of machinery within the market, and guarantees a high level of protection to EU workers and citizens.

Current Problems with Directive 98/37/EC

Overlap between the Machinery Directive and the Low Voltage Directive
Consideration as to how the provisions of EMC should be applied to machinery within the scope of this directive
Lack of transposed harmonized standards to support the directive
The scope of the directive is not entirely clear and, therefore, the definition of “machinery” needs to be refined

Last updated May 06, 2009

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