1. This Directive applies to machinery and lays
down the essential health and safety requirements therefor, as defined in Annex I.
It shall also apply to safety components placed on the market
separately.
2. For the purposes of this
Directive:
(a) 'machinery` means:
- 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,
- an assembly of machines
which, in order to achieve the same end, are arranged and controlled so that they
function as an integral whole,
- interchangeable equipment
modifying the function of a machine, which is placed on the market for the purpose of
being assembled with a machine or a series of different machines or with a tractor by
the operator himself in so far as this equipment is not a spare part or a tool;
(b) 'safety components` means a component,
provided that it is not interchangeable equipment, which the manufacturer or his
authorised representative established in the Community places on the market to fulfil
a safety function when in use and the failure or malfunctioning of which endangers the
safety or health of exposed persons.
3. The
following are excluded from the scope of this Directive:
-
machinery whose only power source is directly applied manual effort, unless it is a
machine used for lifting or lowering loads,
- machinery for
medical use used in direct contact with patients,
- special
equipment for use in fairgrounds and/or amusement parks,
- steam
boilers, tanks and pressure vessels,
- machinery specially
designed or put into service for nuclear purposes which, in the event of failure, may
result in an emission of radioactivity,
- radioactive sources
forming part of a machine,
- firearms,
-
storage tanks and pipelines for petrol, diesel fuel, inflammable liquids and dangerous
substances,
- means of transport, i.e. vehicles and their
trailers intended solely for transporting passengers by air or on road, rail or water
networks, as well as means of transport in so far as such means are designed for
transporting goods by air, on public road or rail networks or on water. Vehicles used
in the mineral extraction industry shall not be excluded,
-
seagoing vessels and mobile offshore units together with equipment on board such
vessels or units,
- cableways, including funicular railways, for
the public or private transportation of persons,
- agricultural
and forestry tractors, as defined in Article 1(1) of Directive 74/150/EEC (7),
- machines specially designed and constructed for military or
police purposes,
- lifts which permanently serve specific levels
of buildings and constructions, having a car moving between guides which are rigid and
inclined at an angle of more than 15 degrees to the horizontal and designed for the
transport of:
(i) persons;
(ii) persons and goods;
(iii) goods alone if the car is accessible,
that is to say, a person may enter it without difficulty, and fitted with controls
situated inside the car or within reach of a person inside, - means of transport of
persons using rack and pinion rail mounted vehicles,
- mine
winding gear,
- theatre elevators,
-
construction site hoists intended for lifting persons or persons and goods.
4. Where, for machinery or safety
components, the risks referred to in this Directive are wholly or partly covered by
specific Community Directives, this Directive shall not apply, or shall cease to
apply, in the case of such machinery or safety components and of such risks on the
implementation of these specific Directives.
5. Where, for machinery, the risks are
mainly of electrical origin, such machinery shall be covered exclusively by Directive
73/23/EEC (8).
HR>
(7) Council Directive
74/150/EEC of 4 March 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to the type-approval of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors (OJ L 84,
28.3.1974, p. 10). Directive as last amended by Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC (OJ
L 1.1.1995, p. 1).
(8) Council Directive 73/23/EEC of 19
February 1973 on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to
electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (OJ L 77,
26.3.1973, p. 29). Directive as last amended by Directive 93/68/EEC (OJ L 220,
30.8.1993, p. 1).