Harmonized European Standards - Siemens SINAMICS S120 Function Manual

Standards and regulations
10.2 Safety of machinery in Europe
10.2.2

Harmonized European Standards

The two Standards Organizations CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation) and CENELEC
(Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique), mandated by the EU Commission,
drew-up harmonized European standards in order to precisely specify the requirements of
the EC directives for a specific product. These standards (EN standards) are published in the
official journal of the commission of the European Parliament and Council and must be
included without revision in domestic standards. They are designed to fulfill basic health and
safety requirements as well as the protective goals specified in Annex I of the Machinery
Directive.
When the harmonized standards are observed, it is "automatically assumed" that the
Directive is fulfilled. As such, manufacturers can assume that they have observed the safety
aspects of the Directive under the assumption that these are also covered in this standard.
However, not every European Standard is harmonized in this sense. Key here is the listing in
the official journal of the commission of the European Parliament and Council.
The European Safety of Machines standard is hierarchically structured. It is divided into:
● A standards (basic standards)
● B standards (group standards)
● C standards (product standards)
Type A standards/basic standards
A standards include basic terminology and definitions relating to all types of machine. This
includes EN ISO 12100 (previously EN 292-1) "Safety of Machines, Basic Terminology,
General Design Principles".
A standards are aimed primarily at the bodies responsible for setting the B and C standards.
The measures specified here for minimizing risk, however, may also be useful for
manufacturers if no applicable C standards have been defined.
Type B standards/group standards
B standards cover all safety-related standards for various different machine types. B
standards are aimed primarily at the bodies responsible for setting C standards. They can
also be useful for manufacturers during the machine design and construction phases,
however, if no applicable C standards have been defined.
A further sub-division has been made for B standards:
● Type B1 standards for higher-level safety aspects (e.g. ergonomic principles, safety
clearances from sources of danger, minimum clearances to prevent parts of the body
from being crushed).
● Type B2 standards for protective safety devices are defined for different machine types
(e.g. EMERGENCY STOP devices, two-hand operating circuits, interlocking elements,
contactless protective devices, safety-related parts of controls).
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Function Manual, 12/2018, 6SL3097-5AR00-0BP1
Safety Integrated