Glossary · Existing plants and retrofit
Adaptation to the state of the art (work equipment)
Also known as: EmpfBS 1114
German: Anpassung an den Stand der Technik bei der Verwendung von Arbeitsmitteln
In German operational safety law, adaptation to the state of the art is the employer's duty to keep work equipment safe to use by the current state of the art throughout its period of use. EmpfBS 1114 distinguishes the state of the art at placing on the market, which governs the design of a product, from the state of the art in use, which governs the protective measures of the employer.
- Compliance
- German source term
In one sentence
EmpfBS 1114 separates the state of the art at placing on the market from that in use: older equipment may need new measures, not a new design.
Example
A revised product standard requires a new guard on new machines of a type; an operator of an older machine checks in its risk assessment whether the existing guard and additional organizational measures still reach the protection level now considered state of the art.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
How it applies
- Two states of the art: A change to a product standard does not automatically oblige the operator to retrofit equipment already in use. The operator assesses in the risk assessment whether the current protection level is still reached, and may close a gap by technical, organizational or personal measures in that order.
- Groups of equipment: EmpfBS 1114 names groups for which it gives examples, such as lifting equipment, lifts, Ex installations, pressure equipment and cranes. Employers can adopt the measures listed there or assess the state of the art themselves with competent staff.
- Legal weight: A recommendation (EmpfBS) is published under § 21(5) BetrSichV and, unlike a Technical Rule (TRBS), has no presumption effect under § 4(3). It helps to justify a decision; it does not replace the justification.
- Documentation: Record in the risk assessment which state of the art was applied, why the existing measures are sufficient or which were added. This record is what an inspector reads, not the age of the machine.
State of the art at placing on the market vs. in use
The first is the manufacturer's yardstick for the design and is frozen when the product is placed on the market. The second is the employer's yardstick for safe use and moves on during the whole period of use. Discussions about grandfathering usually go wrong exactly where the two are mixed up.