To avoid unnecessary liability, many purchasers of machinery and equipment pass the responsibility for PSRs on to their suppliers.
Many of our new clients are complaining that the equipment they have purchased Overseas from Countries of Origin like China are not complaint. The price is good, the quality is good, they function well, but they cannot be turned on. They complain the machine guarding safety system has been found to be non-compliant and will require expensive redesign and rebuild. Often the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) will not allow start up until CSA or CuL rated components replace what is currently in the panels. Now it is too late. Once your company becomes the owner or lessee of equipment with these concerns, it also becomes responsible for its compliance to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and Ontario Electrical Code for example.
In Ontario, owners and lessees of equipment or processes related to the storage and dispensing of flammable liquids, machine guarding, racks and racking systems, potentially explosive processes, dust collectors, molten metal and foundries, lifting devices, or occupational exposure to hazardous substances, are increasingly becoming responsible for making sure that the process, machine or device that will be used in their industrial establishments is in compliance with provincial OH&S regulations. This is achieved through the so-called Pre-Start Health & Safety Review process or PSR, where a professional engineer must review the hazards of the above equipment or process and issue a report stating the compliance status of the equipment or process.
PSR Ontario
To avoid unnecessary liability, delays and expense we advise or new clients to pass the responsibility for PSRs on to their suppliers by stating in their purchase orders that suppliers must obtain a PSR from SAFE Engineering Inc. (SAFE Engineering engineers are Professional Engineers, licensed by Professional Engineers Ontario) before a shipment is accepted. ESA Compliance can also be handled in this way. This policy has proven to be an effective one in ensuring that equipment is compliant before it is shipped. It requires original equipment manufacturers to supply a product that will comply with the regulations in the OHSA to avoid extra costs and delays.
