What Is the Process of Retrofitting Machine Tools with Safety Features?

It often begins with a simple question:
"Could you send someone to take a look at our lathes, milling and drilling machines?"
Our answer: "Absolutely – we'd be happy to!"
Following this brief exchange, our technical sales advisors usually have a whole range of questions regarding machine safety to explore. In the following, we present the most important aspects of equipping your machines with safety features – giving you a clear overview of how to begin improving the safety of your older machine tools.

Why MOWOTAS Is the Right Choice

If you’re looking for reliable machine safety solutions, turning to MOWOTAS GmbH is the right move. For over 10 years, we’ve been helping our customers retrofit their machines quickly and cost-effectively.

Our main focus is on lathes, milling machines and drilling machines – but we also retrofit saws, presses and grinding machines with suitable safety guards, new main switches and emergency stop systems. Whether it's a single machine or an extensive machine park with 80 or more units across various departments and locations, we treat every job with equal care and attention. Our safety equipment improves occupational safety in three key ways:

• Guarding against access through physical barriers

• Control-integrated safety: machines shut down when guards are opened, often with restart interlock

• Protection from flying debris and splashing

During the consultation, we discuss the number and condition of the machines, the safety level required, and any additional work desired. We also clarify whether you prefer to install the safety devices yourself or would like us to handle the installation for you.

Requirements, On-Site Assessment and Quotation

A key question at the start of any retrofit is whether a remote assessment is sufficient or whether an on-site visit is necessary. For smaller machine fleets with fewer than 10 machines, we’ve had great success using a combination of shared images and machine data gathered via our questionnaire. This approach allows us to offer quick, hassle-free retrofits without long lead times.

In these cases, it’s essential that the customer appoints a reliable point of contact to oversee preparations—ideally a qualified health and safety specialist. Throughout the project, our advisors provide tips and share practical experience, enabling many customers to carry out the installation and electrical integration themselves, provided qualified personnel are available on site.

Another option is to have the machine data recorded on site by one of our own staff members or a certified technician. This technician will later also handle the installation of the safety equipment at the customer’s premises.

As we invest a significant amount of time in the preparation phase, we charge a fair flat rate for this service and send a qualified expert to carry out the assessment. Based on this, we then prepare a detailed quotation. This includes tailored recommendations for the type of retrofit, the exact design of the required safety solution, as well as dimensions and details on any custom-made components.

To give our customers a better idea of our work, we’ve compiled a comprehensive image gallery on our website showcasing machines we’ve successfully retrofitted. This allows you to see how both the appearance and usability of the machines are affected. The visual material is also very helpful if you plan to carry out the installation of the safety equipment yourself:

>> Lathe gallery | Milling machine gallery | Drilling machine gallery

Professional Installation of Safety Equipment

Once the customer has reviewed the quotation and placed an order with MOWOTAS, we coordinate the delivery schedule and, if required, arrange an installation date with one of our technicians. 

We have worked with our installation partners for many years. As experienced maintenance engineers, they are qualified in both mechanical and electrical systems. They are also familiar with many older machines from their own hands-on experience and are able to operate them safely.

When our technicians install the safety equipment, they often carry out additional tasks as well. These may include electrical safety inspection, updating circuit diagrams, machine maintenance, preparing risk assessments and operating manuals, or installing machine lights.

If a safety guard does not fit perfectly, our customers can fabricate a custom adapter on site based on our specifications. This approach is both practical and cost-effective – the machine is already in place, and this way, unnecessary expenses can be avoided.

Customer-Specific Safety Topics On Site

Many of our previous retrofitting projects have been carried out in collaboration with German Social Accident Insurance institutions (Berufsgenossenschaften). This is often the case when the customer has already established contact with their respective authority. Over the years, MOWOTAS GmbH has gained extensive experience in retrofitting machine tools in line with the expectations and assessments of these organisations.

The Berufsgenossenschaften are valuable partners in ensuring on-site acceptance of safety measures and in giving companies the assurance that regulatory requirements are being properly met. They can provide official feedback on whether the planned or completed safety measures are sufficient and correctly implemented.

Some companies hesitate to approach the Berufsgenossenschaft proactively. In our experience, such concerns are usually unfounded. We’ve had consistently positive experiences working with these authorities and generally recommend that our customers at least consider initiating contact. 

Keeping the Machinery Directive in Mind

At MOWOTAS, our role in retrofitting machine safety always ends where a significant modification to the machine’s control system would begin. In such cases, a new declaration of conformity would be required. Therefore, we retrofit machines in a way that ensures two things: first, no substantial modification occurs as defined by the EU Machinery Regulation No. 2023/1230; second, the machine is always safer after the retrofit than it was before.

As a result, no additional formalities are required under the current machinery directive once retrofitting is complete. However, we always remind our customers that they remain responsible for maintaining up-to-date risk assessments and operating instructions.

Acceptance and Awareness Are Key

When retrofitting safety equipment, it’s important to clarify responsibility, accountability, and operator acceptance. We differentiate between the acceptance among machine operators and the responsibility of management. Gaining operator acceptance can be challenging, especially in companies that have had few or no accidents so far. In such cases, operators often prioritise ease of use and quick machine setup over safety.

If acceptance is not addressed early on, complaints after retrofitting are almost guaranteed. These range from awkward handling and increased setup time to outright rejection of the safety equipment. That’s why early communication and education are essential in two areas:

Firstly, we’ve seen many serious accidents that could have been prevented had proper safety equipment been in place. While the responsibility for awareness lies with the company, we support our customers by sharing real-world examples from the field.

Secondly, it’s vital to understand that, in the event of an accident, responsibility typically lies with management – and legal consequences may follow. For this reason, company leadership should place as much emphasis on machine safety as they do on operational efficiency, and be willing to enforce safety measures despite resistance. Support from an internal or external safety officer is highly recommended in this process.

Bypassing Safety Measures: A Hidden Risk

One common issue is the deliberate bypassing of safety devices by technically skilled personnel. This typically happens when acceptance is low. For this reason, we strongly advise monitoring the proper use of safety equipment over an extended period after installation. This ensures that safety protocols are followed and protective devices are used correctly.

No Compromise on Safety – Or Is There?

What do we recommend when a safety guard interferes with workflow or even prevents the production of complex components? In such cases, there are options – but they must be carefully planned and implemented.

A well-documented risk assessment can serve as a foundation for compromise. From a technical perspective, key-operated switches are a useful solution, allowing operators to perform setup operations even with guards open. However, we strongly caution against leaving keys in the switch during operation. Instead, we recommend a documented key management system.

Some of our safety guards are also available without microswitches – meaning the machine continues to run even when the guard is open. In most cases, we advise against these types of solutions, as omitting the microswitch eliminates a key element of machine safety. 

Author: Manuel Müller (Head of Sales, MOWOTAS GmbH)
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