Embedded safety in equipment development delivers risk assessment for machine builders and maintainers

RS Components supported by Schmersal and 3M have announced the launch of DesignSpark Safety, the latest tool in the fast-expanding DesignSpark portfolio of free-for-download software for product designers and engineers. Available globally, and accessible via the DesignSpark.com community website, it is a new and intuitive risk-assessment tool that enables companies to embed safety into their end-to-end product design process for the development of machinery. DesignSpark Safety is an embedded software solution that comes with associated support materials, and provides designers with a risk score for their planned product development. The tool can aid the provision of CE Mark documentation, as well as helping in the reduction of potential hazards and ensuring compliance with the global ISO 12100 safety-standard, which specifies basic terminology, principles and a methodology for achieving safety in the design of machinery. Therefore, key target users expected to find significant value in the tool are industrial machinery designers and integrators, along with industrial engineers tasked with improving safety standards on existing machinery. “DesignSpark Safety is the first powerful and free risk-assessment tool to be made available in the industry,” said Mike Bray, vice president of DesignSpark at RS. “In addition to expanding the DesignSpark portfolio, the software delivers exceptionally easy access to a professional solution for all engineers by removing the barriers of cost and complexity. Embedding safety into their product development enables the streamlining of designs and the avoidance of costly retrofit solutions.”