The family-owned company EAB was founded in 1957 and has since grown as steadily and stably as its solutions. Its head office and production facilities are located in Smålandsstenar, Sweden, and the group has almost 400 employees. Europe, North America, and Asia are EAB’s main markets, and about a quarter of its production is exported.
An important part of sustainability
In terms of production, it is a classic engineering industry with focus on pressing, cutting, and welding, says Anders Olsson, CE coordinator at EAB.
“We have a strong focus on a safe working environment as part of our sustainability work, and machine safety is an important part of this. We are careful to follow up on all our machines to ensure that they are safe and meet the requirements of the Machinery Directive, both during commissioning and during ongoing production.”
For the past five years, EAB has been working with CEDOC software for risk assessment and documentation.
“With CEDOC, we get the support we need. We know that we have checked off all the points and thus meet the legal requirements of the Machinery Directive. The fact that the documentation is included, of course, makes things much easier and makes our work more efficient”, says Anders Olsson.
Safety Culture in the Organization
Anders Olsson emphasizes that legal requirements are not the main driving force behind risk assessment work at EAB. Work is only part of life, and EAB employees should feel confident that they will return home to their families safely in the evening.
“For us, employee safety is the ultimate goal. Complying with the Machinery Directive provides a solid foundation, but beyond that, we strive to cultivate a safety culture throughout the organization. I think we have built a strong general understanding of how important these issues are,” says Anders, noting that knowledge about machine safety remains limited in large parts of society.
“Unfortunately, I believe there are still gaps in understanding the requirements placed on us in the industry. By working systematically with machine safety, it is possible to prevent many accidents that could affect both individual employees and the company.”
Test Pilot in Development
Using CEDOC in risk assessment work is an effective way to lower the threshold for those who find it challenging to structure their safety processes. For this reason, EAB and Anders Olsson have chosen to participate as test pilots in the further development of the software. This allows them to contribute not only to the safety of their own organization but also to that of others.
“We are currently evaluating the latest version and have provided input and suggestions for further improvements,” says Anders Olsson, who recently signed a new three-year agreement for the software.
For us at CEDOC, EAB’s commitment is a source of inspiration in our efforts to spread knowledge about machine safety.
“The fact that EAB takes a long-term view of its sustainability work and actively participates in developing our software is extremely valuable. We are planning to release even more features and are eager to develop them together with our customers. We all have an important role to play in creating safer machines and workplaces.”
