Controlled Stop of a Machine - Air not Dumped

[Finglas]

One of our service engineers wants to know if it is possible to bring one of our machines which we are still building on our own premises to a controlled stop but which doesn't actually dump the air in the system. Technically, in this scenario there should be no possibility of movement of pneumatic cylinders as the air already in the system will maintain them in their current position. What I want to know is does this contravene any EN standards?

Typically, when we bring machines to a controlled stop and then open the doors of an enclosure (usually a 3 to 5 second continuous holding down of the same stop button) to get inside a machine, the air will be dumped on opening the doors. In the above machine, vertically oriented cylinders have check valves to stop them dropping and risk assessment has been done already to make sure parts which are held (suction cups, mechanical grippers etc) are safe/unsafe to be dropped.

 

[berkshire]

How badly does this action violate the tagout lock out, zero energy state, regulations, for the country this machine is going to be used in?
If this is to remove a mis-aligned part, what are the chances of the machine doing something unwanted while a guy has his hand in there?
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Finglas]

Apologies, I never saw your reply til now. It doesn't appear to violate LOTO. However, we don't have an expert in-house who can verify that the pneumatic circuits are up to scratch from a safety perspective.

 

[berkshire]

Finglas,
Since a long time has elapsed between my answer and this date I suspect that you may have a solution by now . Suffice it to say LOTO ensures that any machine is safe for an installer, operator, or maintenance man to stick their hand or any other body part into possible harms way without risk. Since you do not have an in house expert , can you hire a consultant to oversee your circuit diagrams and make sure you do not have any hidden surprises?
B.E

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.