NEN9140 at the machine level

High-voltage vehicles are popping up everywhere. There are more and more electric cars, buses, trucks and also earth moving machines. For these new technologies, there are still few European rules regarding working safely on them, within the Netherlands this has been responded to with the standard NEN9140 - working safely on e-vehicles. 

What is NEN9140?  

The standard NEN9140 is derived from NEN3140 management of electrical installations. It has been translated so that it provides guidelines for the automotive industry. The standard sets specific requirements for working safely on vehicles by observing electrical hazards. In addition, the NEN9140 standard also ensures that there are regulations for the safe storage of (presumably) damaged e-vehicles and electrically dangerous parts of electric vehicles.  

Working safely 

It is important to train everyone properly to work with and tinker with e-vehicles. Together with a certified trainer, we provide machine-specific training that fits our system. Thus, everyone who attends our training is properly trained and made aware of safety regulations.  

Within the Netherlands, only certified mechanics are allowed to work on a high-voltage e-vehicle. In this there are three flavors; 
- Sufficiently educated  
- Skilled  
- Work Manager 

Depending on the work, an employee may or may not do actions. 

Collaboration to keep improving

By cooperating with a certified trainer, we can not only set up specific machine training courses for our mechanics, but we can also further develop our machines. From this cooperation several points emerge that can be added for the safety of both mechanics, emergency services and inspectors.   

So we can set up a standard for our machines by thinking about the essential points so that the machine is equipped with all safe components. Here you can think of; 
- Securing against unintentional movement 
- Separating battery from high-voltage system 
- Protecting against reactivation 
- Check that the high-voltage system is de-energized 
- Active high-voltage parts shielding 

For example, we provide physically disconnectable connectors between the batteries and the machine, as well as options to lock the system with a lock to prevent activation. Naturally, everything is recorded in protocols to ensure safe working methods.