Customer report: Safexpert in the wood machinery industry

For a long time, risk assessments and CE documentation were created with Microsoft Word and in the form of Excel tables. This was not always easy for designers, reports Andreas Hensel, Manager Systems Safety, at HOMAG:

„In order to find their way around the Word and Excel documents, the individual designers had to have sound knowledge and extensive standards expertise.“

As the functionality of the machines (modular machines consisting of a basic machine and units with various additional functions) increased, so did the complexity of the safety-related solutions. This made the work of the designers enormously more difficult. Lack of clarity in the risk assessment meant that the implementation was not particularly popular with the designers, Hensel recalls:
 

„Because the Word and Excel documents did not show clearly and comprehensibly what the danger areas, hazards and life phases were, everyone was happy when they had completed the risk assessment.“

However, the creation of documents in Word and Excel was - despite its not particularly popularity - well established in the company. Existing risk assessments were copied and adapted to new designs. This was possible because similar machines with similar risk areas were often built. However, a change in standards meant that the safety-related solutions had to be adapted - a good opportunity for HOMAG to give the process of risk assessment in the company a new lease of life:

„We decided to look for an improved solution that would help and relieve us in the future to carry out our risk assessments.“

Selection and introduction of Safexpert at HOMAG

One requirement for HOMAG was that the existing documentation processes could be retained, as these were already established within the company. Safexpert fulfilled this requirement. Andreas Hensel recalls:
 

„Safexpert should offer us the possibilities of being able to carry out our risk assessments clearly and systematically and to accompany the designers step by step.“

The coherent use of hazard points, hazards and life phases made the process steps much more comprehensible and easier to follow. Particularly important for HOMAG: By using the Safexpert NormManager, safety-related solutions could from now on be automatically monitored to ensure they were up to date.

Safexpert was introduced using real examples. This had the advantage that parallel to the introduction to the new tool, awareness and methodological competence for carrying out risk assessments could be trained and deepened.

 

How initial scepticism turned into broad acceptance

Initially there was a certain scepticism about the new software. The perception was that now a new tool had to be learned again, which had nothing to do with the actual design tasks. This scepticism, however, gave way surprisingly quickly to broad acceptance, Hensel recalls. The feedback from a design engineer is particularly well remembered:
 

„Since I have been doing the risk assessment with Safexpert, I also pay more attention to safety-relevant aspects when working with CAD.“

This and similar feedback confirmed the people responsible for introducing Safexpert:
 

„We were of course very pleased and proud to hear this statement, as it made it clear that we had achieved an increase in awareness and efficiency with the introduction of Safexpert.“

A further advantage for HOMAG was that know-how acquired in the course of risk assessments was now retained when employees left the company.