Industrial equipment and machinery are subject to most extensive compliance requirements due to their inherent complexity.
Such equipment (e.g. robots, autonomous vehicles, agricultural machines) oftenfeatures moving parts, automation and high energy that impose greater hazards. Machinery safety standards cover requirements that are aimed to protect the users and the environment from hazards including electrocution, burn, fire, explosion, mechanical damage, hazardous substances, noise and radiation.
Typical means required to ensure safety of machinery equipment include Interlocks, Emergency Stop, Light Curtains, Proximity Sensor, Limit switches, and software safety provisions. Safety standards define the requirements for use, construction, operation and testing of such means.
Safety standards also provide specific requirements for operator warnings, user manuals, installation and maintenance procedures. General safety requirements such as grounding, isolation, dielectric strength as well as EMC, environmental simulation are always applicable to industrial equipment.
Common safety standards used for Industrial equipment and machinery include:
• IEC/EN 60204-1 Safety of machinery – General safety requirements
• NFPA 79 Electrical standard for industrial machinery for USA/Canada
• ISO 12100 Safety of machinery – Risk assessment and risk reduction
• ISO 13849 Safety-related parts of control systems
• ISO 10218-1/2 Robots and robotic devices – Requirements for industrial robots
• EN 1010-1 Safety of printing and paper converting machines
• UL 1740 Safety Robots and Robotic Equipment for USA/Canada
• UL 3100 Safety for Autonomous Mobile Platforms (AMPs) for USA/Canada
In order to sell industrial and machinery equipment in the EU it must comply with the relevant European Machinery, Low Voltage, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Atmosphères Explosibles (ATEX) and RoHS Directives. The manufacturer must issue a Declaration of Conformity (DoC) and affix CE mark to the product. Hermon
Laboratories is accredited according to the standards required under the European
Directives.
In North America the equipment must be certified by an NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) such as TUV RNA, MET labs, ETL-Intertek and UL. Based on our accreditations by leading NRTLs for testing industrial equipment, we can provide NRTL certification for our clients quickly and efficiently.
CB scheme can be used to certify the products world-wide as many countries recognize CB certificates. Hermon Laboratories is an accredited CBTL and NCB which entitles us to test and issues CB certificates under CB scheme.
In addition to traditional safety practices, customers globally are increasingly demanding manufacturers to integrate functional safety into machinery design to ensure safe and reliable operation. The requirements for specific safety integrity ratings for safety-related functions have also been incorporated in recent revisions of industry standards worldwide. Functional safety measures are critical for protecting the lives and well-being of operators, maintenance personnel, and end-users. By systematically identifying potential hazards and implementing appropriate safety controls, functional safety helps mitigate the risk of accidents, injuries, and even fatalities that could occur due to machinery malfunctions or failures.