The revised Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC forms the legal basis for visibility requirements concerning construction machinery. In this context, the international standards ISO 5006 and ISO 14401 are of special importance, since the European standard EN 474 directly requires compliance with them. This means that a surround vision configuration for construction machinery which is in compliance with the provisions of ISO 5006 and ISO 14401 ensures that the general “visibility” provisions of Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC are also properly met.

ISO 5006 defines minimum surround vision requirements for construction machinery addressing seven different areas:

• RB: Rectangular boundary drawn around the machine at a 1 m distance. Objects 1.5 m or       higher situated on this rectangular boundary must be visible to the machine operator (relates to objects in direct close proximity).
• A-F: 6 segments of a 12 m circle drawn on the ground with the eye position of the machine    operator as the center (relates to objects in indirect close proximity). Objects must be visible in each of these six sectors. ISO 5006 details the exact visibility requirements for each of the machine types in question (see illustration).

For each of the seven visibility areas (RB, A-F) subsectors of a certain maximum permissible size are defined which are allowed to be invisible to the machine operator. The individual measurements depend on specific machine types and weight classifications:

For example, in visibility area A a wheel loader with a total mass under 10 tons is allowed to have a maximum of two concealed areas extending by no more than 700 mm each. For this machine type, concealed areas on the rectangular boundary (RB) may not be wider than 300 mm.

ISO 14401 contains provisions concerning fields of vision in the rear of construction machinery to be rendered visible by using suitable rear view mirrors. The fields of vision to be implemented are specified for various types of machinery.

The development of surround vision systems is MEKRA Lang’s core competency – we are committed to increasing work and traffic safety.

With decades of experience as a supplier of mirror and camera systems, three-dimensional field-of-vision research and in-house development expertise, MEKRA Lang has firmly established itself as a market leader in the commercial vehicle industry. Our optimized mirror and camera system combinations provide the highest possible degree of coverage of a vehicle’s blind spots.