3030 Auditorium 01/04 - DEKRA Certification

EQUIPMENT AND INDUSTRIAL SAFETY
DEKRA register of
working appliances as
a possible solution
Medium-sized companies have hundreds
of working appliances at their disposal.
BetrSichV requires that these be registered
and documented. The DEKRA register
of working appliances is a rational
way of going about this task. All the
necessary documents (e.g. hazard assessments)
can be assigned to the respective
activities and working appliances using
an Access-based database. It permits the
exact mapping of the corporate structure
and gives simultaneous access to supplementary
information (e.g. register of
hazardous substances). Past and proposed
inspections are clearly displayed
– a user-friendly and practically
orientated solution for your hazard
management.
Contact:
Erhard Janke
DEKRA Umwelt GmbH
Tel. +49.361.742 36-12
erhard.janke@dekra.com
Hazard management in practice
The central requirement of the German Industrial Safety Regulations (BetrSichV)
is the assessment of hazards by the employer as a basic building block. As reported
in AUDITORIUM 1/2004, this opens up new opportunities for the employer
to exercise direct responsibility in organising occupational safety. However, at
the same time it means more expense and increased liability risks. Efficiency and
legal certainty is provided by DEKRA’s uniform nationwide, practice-orientated
procedural concept that simplifies the introduction to BetrSichV and computeraided
hazard management.
Phase 1:
Analysis of the current
situation
First of all DEKRA specialists will take an
inventory of all existing plant and equipment
including the relevant documentation.
This includes hazard assessments
pursuant to Article 5 ArbSchG (Occupational
Health and Safety Act), technical
inspection documentation, registers of
hazardous substances pursuant to Article
16 GefStoffV (Ordinance on Hazardous
Substances), explosion protection plans
and quality and occupational safety management
systems. In addition it will be
ascertained whether equipment – particularly
that requiring surveillance – has
already been classified by sector and
hazard potential.
Phase 2:
Hazard assessment pursuant
to Article 3 BetrSichV
Following stocktaking, the steps required
for ensuring the provision and safe use
of working appliances will be defined –
including the machinery requiring surveillance.
Besides the possible hazards
involved with the use of working appliances
themselves, the interaction of the
different working appliances, work materials
and the working environment must
also be considered. Stipulations will be
made with regard to the precise physical
constitution of the working appliances,
how and at which intervals they are to
be inspected.
DEKRA also provides support to the company
in the preparation of or additions to
the register of hazardous substances. If
needed, an explosion protection concept
can be prepared (register of explosive substances,
determination of explosion hazards,
zonal hazard classification, protective
measures, selection of equipment and
systems, explosion protection document).
Phase 3:
Hazard management
Since all working appliances must be
regularly inspected and a record kept of
the results, a uniform inspection management
by an external service provider
is to be recommended in the long term.
DEKRA supplies all the fundamentals
for the internal organisation of the protective
measures. Besides the definition of
goals and measures, this includes the
instruction of the group of persons referred
to in Article 9 BetrSichV, the preparation
of a requirement profile for “persons
eligible” to inspect and test working
appliances, as well as the appointment
of a “coordinator” insofar as special
hazards ensue from working appliances.
In addition, the database-supported
DEKRA register of working appliances
(see inset) is a tool that greatly simplifies
the central registration and administration
of all working appliances.