❌ ISO 13849-1:2023 – Do Not Use ❌

This is a first On Thursday, 2023-04-27, ISO published ISO 13849-1:2023, the 4th edition of the dominant functional safety standard for machinery. Usually, I would be the first to tell you that you should buy the standard as quickly as possible and start using it immediately. Today is not a normal day. As Command Module…

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Understanding Safety Functions: the Safety-related stop function

A stop sign - A red octagon with a white border, and white block text reading STOP.

The most used safety function on machinery is the safety-related stop function. The requirements discussed in this post are not generally applicable to process-related stop functions unless the process and safety stop functions share the same control system hardware and software.

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Introduction to Functional Safety Seminars

Man training a group of people, pointing to Functional Safety topics on the whiteboard

If you are interested in functional safety, and I know many readers are based on the statistics I see for my other functional safety-related posts, I think you will be interested in this. I am collaborating with the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society’s Virtual Chapter to provide a series of three 35 minute seminars discussing…

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Trapped Key Interlocking

Mechanical locking portion of a trapped key interlock secured to the door of an electrical switchgear cabinet with one-way tamper-resistant screws.

Many machine designers think interlocks are exclusively electrical devices; a movable mechanical guard is fitted with an electrical interlocking device, and the interlocking device is connected to the control system. Trapped Key Interlocking is an equally effective way to interlock guards that is often more appropriate in severe environmental conditions or where the guard is…

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Q & A: Category 2 and Testing Intervals

Logical block diagram for ISO 13849-1 Category 2 architecture.

During the Free Safety Talks with Schmersal Canada and Franklin Empire, we had a “hot question” regarding Category 2 architecture and the testing interval requirement. Category 2 in [1, 6.2.5] does not mention a minimum testing rate, but [1, 4.5.4], “Simplified procedure for estimating the quantifiable aspects of PL,” adds a requirement for test rate…

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