This standard applies to automatic back splitting machines. This standard deals with all significant hazards, hazardous situations and events relevant to machines, appliances and machinery, when they are used as intended and under the conditions foreseen by the manufacturer (see clause 4). These significant hazards, hazardous situations and events exist during the whole life of back splitting machines. This standard applies not to curing injection machines which are manufactured before CEN this document has published. This European standard specifies requirements for the design and manufacture of the machines used in slaughterhouses in order to fully automatically split meat animal (beef and pork) along the back-bone axis (see figure 1).