How to ensure safety installations are fully CE marked

Security installations, such as swing and sliding gates, are large heavy machines with automatic moving elements. Many vehicles and people pass through these every day, which is why it is vital that all of these safety installations comply with European safety requirements and have a CE marking. 

When a manufacturer produces a new security installation for the European market, the company is legally obliged to ensure the product complies with CE marking regulations. But how does the manufacturer ensure that the product meets all the requirements?  

Obtaining CE marking certification is an extensive process. And so it should be, because it’s about the safety of yourself, your employees and everyone who interacts and enters your business premises. In short, the process goes as follows: 

1. Risk analysis, evaluation and reduction 

The first step is to identify all possible dangers and risks. The analysis is assessed by means of a riskograph. The manufacturer then determines which hazards he must be eliminated and which acceptable residual risks are unavoidable.  

2. Safe gate design 

A new gate must be safe to use. Think of the fixed distances to moving parts and avoiding any sharp parts. A manufacturer must also take into account issues such as wind load and mechanical stability. All these aspects have to be understood and specified by the manufacturer in a gate design. 

3. Testing 

On paper, the design of a new gate can work well, but of course this needs to be tested intensively. The manufacturer tests the gate according to the standard of the CE markings and the requirements he placed on the product. These include durability, derailment, force measurement and wear and tear of components. Certain tests must be carried out by an independent body (notified body). Only when an independent test has been carried out and the product has met all of the criteria, will a safety certificate be issued.  

4. Documentation 

A manufacturer must record everything around the new gate in a technical construction file and keep it for at least ten years. Such as drawings, calculations, risk inventory, test results and declarations. The company will also have to provide the user with a user manual for safe use and a logbook for maintenance work.  

5. Factory Production Control (FPC) 

The manufacturer must guarantee that every gate produced according to the new design operates in the same safe manner. Therefore, in this step, the manufacturer lays down the procedures within the organisation in an FPC, a kind of quality handbook that guarantees that every product has the same level of performance. 

6. CE marking 

When the manufacturer complies with all the directives and standards mentioned above and can prove it, the coveted CE marking follows. In this way, a manufacturer assures customers that a gate complies with the European directives on safety.