EN ISO 14119 standard

EN ISO 14119 considers additional technologies such as RFID or electromagnetic guard locking, classifies interlocking devices and stipulates more clearly the specifications for installing guards. These stipulations are particularly significant with regard to protection against guard manipulation, also known as defeating of guards.

EN ISO 14119 will replace all national standards on this subject and will be valid worldwide.

All safety switches and safety gate systems have been classified into four types for this purpose. The standard considers the operating principles of the switches, such as RFID or electromagnetic for example, and coded safety switches are subdivided into different coding levels. It provides specifications with regard to the proper installation of the interlocking device.  Each safety gate must be checked for ways in which it can be manipulated. The necessary static and dynamic forces (minimum holding forces) are also examined.

Specifications regarding the series connection of safety switches and safety gate systems are new, addressing the long-known subject of fault masking. EN ISO 14119:2013 provides machine builders and users with much wider scope to use a broader range of technologies when interlocking guards, it also places more responsibility on the designer to prevent foreseeable, deliberate bypassing of guards, and will change the way in which guard interlocking devices are connected across machines.

With its safety switches and safety gate systems, Pilz meets the specifications of the new standard and supports design engineers who develop standard-compliant, future-proof guards.