Machinery Safety and Cybersecurity: What’s Changing? 

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important part of machinery safety. 

From January 2027, the EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 will fully come into force, introducing new requirements that recognise the risks created by connected machinery, software, and digital systems. 

What is changing? 

One of the most significant additions to the Machinery Regulation is a new essential health and safety requirement covering “protection against corruption.” 

Manufacturers and machine builders will need to consider potential hazards caused by connectivity and communications, including the accidental or intentional corruption of machinery, software or data. 

The Regulation also introduces requirements around recording interventions and changes made to machinery. 

As industrial environments become more connected, this shift is important. Machinery safety can no longer be considered entirely separate from cybersecurity. 

What does this mean for the UK? 

The EU Machinery Regulation will apply directly across EU member states from January 2027. 

For Northern Ireland, legislation to apply the Regulation is expected, while for the rest of the UK, the Government plans to introduce similar measures into UK law. 

These are expected to reflect the technical changes within the EU Regulation while maintaining the UK’s approach to conformity assessment and marking. 

New standards are also on the way 

Supporting standards are being developed to help manufacturers and machine builders demonstrate compliance with the new requirements. 

This includes prEN 50742, Safety of machinery – Protection against corruption, which is currently in development and is expected to provide more specific guidance around managing cybersecurity-related machinery risks. 

The established BS EN ISO 12100 machinery risk assessment standard is also under revision and is expected to provide further consideration of digital systems, cyber risks and artificial intelligence. 

Preparing ahead of 2027 

For organisations designing, building or modifying machinery, waiting until the new requirements come into force could create unnecessary challenges. 

Cybersecurity considerations are increasingly becoming part of the wider machinery safety lifecycle, making it important to understand potential risks during the design and risk assessment stages rather than addressing them later. 

At FAIRFIELDS, we’re closely monitoring developing legislation and standards and considering how to incorporate them into our engineering and design processes alongside established approaches such as IEC 62443. 

Unsure how the changes could affect your machinery or future projects? 

Get in touch with the FAIRFIELDS team. Our engineering and cybersecurity experts can help you identify potential risks and understand the steps you can take now, before they become an issue.