Tool for determining the performance level

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Online Calculator – Performance Level

The determination of the performance level must be carried out for each safety function and without taking into account the risk reduction achieved thereby. This does not apply to technical safety measures that are independent of the controller. As an example, mechanically separating protective device can be mentioned here.

Link for example

 

Tool for determining the performance level

1
Frequency and / or duration of exposure to hazards

Frequency and / or duration of exposure to risks: Guideline for the frequency Interventions that are performed more than once per hour are generally considered to be frequent. However, this recommendation is not a normative value. Risk exposure: The risk exposure must take into account the relationship to the total usage time of the machine. An automated processing center and a press to be fed manually should serve as examples here. If the machining center only needs to be set up once a year, the exposure to the hazard is relatively short compared to its useful life. However, the press regularly reaches into the danger zone, every loading cycle, for this reason the exposure to risk is relatively long compared to the service life.

2
Possibility of avoiding the hazard

Possibility of avoiding the hazard or limiting the damage: This should take into account how much time the operator has to react to a possible hazard before people are injured. For example, high speeds reduce the operator's chance of moving out of the danger area. When evaluating, the physical limits and not limits due to control components have to be considered, as these could fail.

3
Severity of injury

At this point, the effects of accidents and the normally expected healing processes can be assumed.

Example definition of the performance level

On this page we would like to provide you with an exemplary determination of the performance level. We therefore hope to be able to remove any final ambiguities about the calculation.

PERFORMANCE LEVEL

basic

Scenario: Lifting table in the workshop

In our example, the performance level is to be determined for a commercially available lifting table. This is used in a workshop to raise components to an ergonomically lower height. Due to its area of application, the lifting table has to perform relatively little lifting movements.

Step 1: Severity of the injury

First of all, the severity of the injury in the event of a possible accident must be assessed.

In the present case, only a hazard arises when the lifting table is lowered. In the worst case, body parts could get into the scissors or between the platform and the base frame. Although lifting platforms are equipped with switch boards that prevent crushing between the platform and the base frame, they must not be taken into account when determining the performance level.

If a body part arrives during the lowering into the scissors, serious (irreversible) injuries are possible, for this reason S2 must be chosen.

Step 2: Frequency and duration of exposure

As mentioned earlier, the lifting table has to perform relatively little lifting movements. In addition, no gripping into the danger zone is necessary for the operation of the stage. Based on these requirements, F1 can be selected.

Step 3: Possibility to avoid hazard

In the event of damage, the platform of the lifting platform, without any special equipment, could be accelerated almost with the acceleration of the earth towards the base frame. However, lifting tables are equipped as standard with pipe breakage fuses, which prevent such a rapid lowering.

Since the functioning of the pipe breakage protection is based on mechanical principles, so it is not dependent on the control, they can be taken into account in the risk assessment.

By using pipe breakage fuses, people have enough time to move out of the hazardous area, so P1 can be selected.

Result

For the present example, the path S2-F1-P1 is thus obtained. The technical device, which protects against crushing in the scissors or between the platform and the base frame, must therefore meet the performance level ‘c’.