36 n SAFETY November/December 2024 www.drivesncontrols.com Navigating changes to cobot safety standards Collaborative robots (cobots), known for their ability to share the same workspace as human employees, are now a mainstay of the industrial robotics sector. Lightweight, simple to program and exible enough to be moved around a factory with ease, they have proved popular with manufacturers. The most recent statistics from the International Federation of Robotics show that cobot installations worldwide grew by 31% in 2022 to 54,868, representing 10% of all robot installations. By collaborating with humans, cobots are considered a safer option than traditional industrial robots. Until now, cobots have fallen under the technical specication ISO/TS 15066, which has left some users falling short of meeting their safety obligations. A recent project by the ISO working group has seen the robot safety standards ISO 10218-1 and ISO 10218-2 updated to take account of the technological changes and advances in cobots. The British Standards Institute (BSI) has recently reviewed the proposed changes to the standards and fed back information to ISO. The revised standards are due for release soon. The changes will be made rst at ISO level, and then adopted at European level, and in the UK as a BS. What will this change mean for cobot users and integrators? Any changes to the regulatory landscape can seem daunting to manufacturers. It is not only the nished application that needs to meet safety standards, but also the components that form part of the application. Now that cobot safety is being enhanced to align it with industrial robot safety standards, end-users need to be aware of the potential implications. Once the standard is released, it will provide integrators and users with the information they need to ensure safe applications. Once the standard is harmonised with the Machinery Directive, it will support the requirements for CE/UKCA marking. Integrators and end-users need to complete detailed risk assessments to identify the risks that both the robot and the application present. If they are not familiar with the risk assessment process, independent safety specialists can oer support. It is important that integrators and users move away from the “cobot” analogy and start to think of cobots as robots for collaborative applications. By generating an audit trail via a fully traceable risk assessment, manufacturers can demonstrate to the HSE that they understand the risks involved with cobot integration, have measures in place to control them, and are therefore compliant with the new standard. Identifying hazards The risk assessments should cover a number of stages to identify hazards, and enable integrators and end-users to achieve their ultimate goal of UKCA/CE Marking. These stages may include, but are not limited to: nValidation and veri cation Using calibrated force sensors to Robot safety standards are being updated to take account of the advances in collaborative robots. Matt Androsiuk, MD of Northampton-based Cobots and Machinery Safety and a member of the BSI’s robot technical committee, outlines the changes and how ensure that your applications comply with them. Systems integrators and end-users need to think of cobots as robots for collaborative applications.
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