BS EN 13525:2020

What is BS EN 13525- Safety of wood chippers in forestry machinery about?

BS EN 13525 discusses forestry machinery. BS EN 13525 is an international standard that provides for the safety of wood chippers in forestry machinery.

BS EN 13525 specifies safety requirements and their verification for design and construction of, i.e., self-propelled, mounted, semi-mounted, and trailed, wood chippers used in forestry, agriculture, horticulture, and landscaping.

BS EN 13525 applies to chippers, used when stationary, which are manually loaded with wood through a horizontal or near horizontal infeed chute and where the infeed action is performed by the chipping components acting as infeed components or by separate integrated infeed components such as rollers or conveyors integral to the infeed chute.

Note 1: BS EN 13525 does not cover:

• Requirements relating to national road regulations arising from transport between work sites
• Hazards arising from any self-propelled function
• Hazards arising from the transmission of power from an external power source – e.g., power take-off driveshafts
• Any machines where the infeed chute is fitted with an extension table or an integrated conveyor that is protruding beyond the outermost lower edge of the infeed chute and the Lower Protective Device of the infeed chute
• Hazards arising from the engine pull starting of an integral power source
• Hazards arising from mechanical loading, vertical infeed chute chippers, electromagnetic aspects of the chippers
• Any machines that are only loaded mechanically
• Additional mechanical discharge systems for woodchips that are not part of the chipping mechanism e.g., conveyors

Note 2: For machines that can be both manually and mechanically loaded, BS EN 13525 only covers the safety of the manual loading.

Note 3: Any additional requirements related to use with both mechanical and manual feed that could affect safe use or which are necessary to maintain the integrity of protective devices are outside the scope of BS EN 13525.

Note 4: It does not apply to environmental hazards (except noise).

Note 5: The noise test code described under BS EN 13525 does not comply with the outdoor noise directive 2000/14/EC.

Who is BS EN 13525- Safety of wood chippers in forestry machinery for?

BS EN 13525 is on the safety of wood of chippers in forestry machinery is relevant to:

Stakeholder groups representing the market players about machinery safety:

• Machine manufacturers (small, medium, and large enterprises)
• Health and safety bodies (regulators, market surveillance, etc.)

Others can be affected by the level of machinery safety:

• Machine employers (small, medium, and large enterprises)
• Machine employees (trade unions, organizations for people with special needs)
• Service providers, e.g for maintenance (small, medium, and large enterprises)

Why should you use BS EN 13525- Safety of wood chippers in forestry machinery?

A woodchipper is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) into smaller woodchips. They are often portable, being mounted on wheels on frames suitable for towing behind a truck or van.

BS EN 13525 provides the buyer with the safety requirements and their verification for efficient designing and construction of woodchippers.

Furthermore, BS EN 13525 assists in preventing and reducing hazards, hazardous situations, or hazardous events during the construction of wood chippers.

By adopting BS EN 13525 the user can enhance the standard and efficiency of woodchippers to build a product that has global acceptance in the market.

What’s changed since the last update?

BS EN 13525:2020 supersedes BS EN 13525:2005+A2:2009, which is withdrawn. BS EN 13525:2020 has made requirements to deal with risks related to moving parts and more particularly to moving parts involved in the process with respect to BS EN 13525:2005+A2:2009.