42 n ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING July/August 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com Standard will define a new era for industrial robot safety The publication of ISO 10218-2:2025, covering industrial robot applications and robot cells, represents the most significant update to robot safety requirements in more than a decade. Over the coming months, the standard will become harmonised through national adoption and will effectively shape new robot installations from January 2027 onwards. But its impact is already being felt across the robotics industry. For manufacturers investing in automation, understanding what has changed – and why – is becoming increasingly important. The previous version of ISO 10218-2 was developed at a time when industrial robots typically operated behind physical guarding and safety fences. Since then, manufacturing has seen the rapid growth of collaborative robotics, mobile automation, digital connectivity, simulation technologies and increasingly complex multi-robot systems. The 2025 revision reflects this changing landscape. It provides a more comprehensive framework for managing risks across the entire lifecycle of a robot application – from design and integration through commissioning, operation, maintenance and to eventual decommissioning. It also aligns robot safety requirements more closely with modern machinery safety principles and emerging digital manufacturing practices. Importantly, the update recognises that robot safety can no longer be viewed purely as a hardware issue. Software, system architecture, functional safety and cybersecurity now play increasingly important roles in ensuring safe operation. What does it cover? ISO 10218 is divided into two complementary parts. Part 1 addresses the robot itself as a machine, while Part 2 focuses on the integration of robots into complete applications and robot cells. The new edition expands significantly on the previous version and provides detailed requirements covering: n Risk assessment and risk reduction n Cell design and safeguarding n Integration of robots with other machinery n Commissioning and validation n Operation and maintenance procedures n Functional safety requirements n Collaborative robot applications n Documentation and information for users The standard also strengthens requirements around safety validation and verification, ensuring that safety measures are not simply designed, but are demonstrably effective in real-world operation. Perhaps the most significant change is a move away from a prescriptive, one-size-fitsall approach, towards a more applicationspecific methodology. Previous editions often relied on broadlydefined safety performance requirements. The new standard places much greater emphasis on detailed risk assessment and determining the appropriate level of functional safety for each individual application. Annexes within the standard provide guidance on a wide range of robot safety functions and their associated performance requirements. Another major development is the integration of collaborative robot guidance directly into the ISO 10218 framework. Previously, collaborative applications were largely addressed through the separate Industrial robots have evolved dramatically since the last major revision of the ISO 10218 safety standard in 2011. They are now faster, more connected, more intelligent and increasingly used in collaborative applications with humans. As a result, the safety framework governing their use has had to evolve too, as Kuka Robotics’ marketing and strategy director, Neil Mead, explains. Kuka’s iiQKA.OS2 operating system is ISO 10218:2025 compliant and IEC 62443-certified
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