Mexico revises regulations to improve machinery safety

Dialogue matters

Machines play an important role in manufacturing. They greatly increase production efficiency. However, unsafe machines can cause serious occupational injuries. For this reason, Germany and Mexico are working jointly towards achieving a solid quality infrastructure to improve safety where workers, the environment and machinery are concerned.

Safety requirements for machines have changed. This means some technical regulations are no longer up to date. There are currently no mandatory requirements for manufacturers in Mexico concerning the safety of their machines (so-called safety by design).

The Mexican Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social - STPS) aims to reduce the high number of occupational accidents in industry and is therefore seeking to improve the relevant regulations. It is revising the regulation for machinery safety NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana)-004-STPS.

Experts from the QI institutions and industry are supporting STPS in this process. They have identified and closed regulatory gaps within the NOM-004-STPS and have worked on harmonisation with international standards. The public commenting process of the revised version of NOM-004-STPS was concluded in early April 2021. The draft is now being reviewed by the technical committee of STPS. Its successful adoption would bring about an alignment of the regulatory framework with international best practices. This would ultimately improve plant and occupational safety as well as competitive conditions for the mechanical engineering sector in Mexico.

Through GPQI, German experts – for example from TÜV Rheinland and the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau - VDMA) – were able to contribute decisively to the draft of the NOM-004-STPS update. Following its publication for public consultation in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación - DOF) in Mexico, the expert group will further accompany STPS in the publication process of the NOM and will support the implementation stage of the regulation.