The last decade has seen great emphasis being placed on improved safety in the workplace. Many national governments have produced safety legislation for industrial machinery. Part of the economic unification of Europe, has spawned the need to standardise many aspects of commercial business, including those regarding the provision of equipment for use in the workplace. The European Union has introduced safety legislation for machine tools in the form of the Machinery Directive (89/392/EEC). This legislation has been adopted, with the force of law, by all European Union countries (as of December 31, 1995) and within the various EFTA countries, as well.
The Machinery Directive, like much of the safety related legislation in the EU, is based on the principle of risk assessment, and sets forth general requirements and limits for the protection of humans who work with, or near, the equipment. The implementation of the Directive has, in turn, caused a great need to define the interpretation of this legislation and to propose methods to meet its requirements. Further more, guidance has been sought by many on how to conduct risk assessment and how to confirm compliance.
European standards organisations, CEN (Committee for European normalisation) and CENELEC (Comité de Normalisacion Electro-technique) have been in the process of developing a wide range of standards to assist with the implementation of the EU Directives. By agreement, and in co-operation with ISO (International Standards Organisation) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee), many standards are adopted or jointly developed for use as International Standards and European Norms. ISO and IEC international standards have been developed to meet the demand for greater detail and interpretation of the government requirements set forth in the 89/392/EEC and EN292. ISO 11553 is designed specifically for Laser Processing Machines in all industrial applications. The standard compliments the general machinery safety standard EN292 in Europe (which is Technical Report ISO/TR12100 internationally). The scope of ISO 11553 describes the hazards generated by laser processing machines and specifies safety requirements relating to radiation hazards (with reference to IEC 825) and associated hazards generated by laser processing (e.g. processing by-products)