As automation continues to transform manufacturing, ensuring operator safety while maintaining productivity has become one of the industry’s defining challenges. With the publication of EN ISO 10218-2:2025, the focus on restart prevention – ensuring that a robot or system cannot automatically resume operation while a person may still be present in a hazardous area – has taken on renewed significance. EN ISO 10218-2:2025 sets out the safety requirements for integrating industrial robots and robotic systems, with a particular emphasis on minimising hazards and ensuring safe operation in both collaborative and traditional environments. Hill notes that its provisions go beyond traditional safeguarding, introducing a holistic view of risk management and operator protection. The standard outlines several key areas for compliance, including the visibility of safeguarded spaces, reliable presence sensing, sequenced reset procedures, comprehensive emergency stop functions, and documented risk assessment. It also stipulates the importance of considering full-body access to safeguarded areas, as well as providing clear documentation and operator training. “These requirements ensure that integrators apply robust, adaptable, and proven technologies to protect operators, with a particular emphasis on preventing hazardous restarts and ensuring all safety measures are validated and maintained,” says Hill. Traditional safety technologies such as fences, light curtains, and laser scanners have long played a central role in industrial automation. However, Hill explains that while these devices remain effective, they can be limited in complex or harsh environments where dust, fog, or visual obstructions affect performance. Radar-based systems, such as those developed by Inxpect, offer a different approach. 3D radar technology Inxpect’s 3D radar technology for example provides volumetric coverage across an entire protected zone, detecting movement even when an operator is obscured by machinery, materials, or environmental factors. Each radar sensor can monitor up to four independent 30 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk Annual Buyers’ Guide 2026 Handling & Safety Matters Focus on: Health & Safety Carrick Hill explains how advances in safety-certified 3D radar technology is reshaping approaches to restart prevention and helping manufacturers align with the evolving requirements of the newly published EN ISO 10218-2:2025 standard. Restart prevention in robotic systems detection fields, with configurable ranges of up to nine metres and detection speeds of up to 4 m/s. This enables flexible configuration for fastmoving or large-area applications, where traditional systems may struggle. Hill explains that as an integrator with extensive experience in both 2D and 3D safety system design, fortop UK is well placed to help manufacturers implement solutions that meet EN ISO 10218-2 requirements. The company supports clients through every stage – from initial design and consultation through to installation and validation. “Working with fortop UK means gaining access to not just the technology, but the engineering insight to ensure that systems are specified, installed, and validated correctly,” says Hill. “Our partnership with Inxpect makes us an established provider of radar-based solutions that enhance operator safety without sacrificing efficiency.” Inxpect’s radar systems are certified to SIL 2, PL d, and Category 3, in accordance with EN ISO 13849-1 and IEC 62061, confirming their compliance with stringent industrial safety standards. Hill notes that these systems provide two critical certified functions within an overall safety architecture: access detection—stopping machinery when personnel enter hazardous areas—and restart prevention, ensuring restart only occurs once the area is verified as clear. The radar’s robustness makes it particularly suited to demanding environments. In sectors such as woodworking or food and beverage, its immunity to dust, debris, or moisture significantly reduces maintenance requirements and false alarms, while maintaining uptime. Rather than replacing existing systems, radar often complements them, adding an intelligent detection layer that enhances overall protection. Hill points to automatic pallet wrapping machines as a typical example of how the technology is being applied. Restart prevention is essential in such applications but can be challenging to achieve without introducing complexity. Inxpect’s radar integrates with existing barriers or light curtains to provide consistent detection regardless of pallet size or operator position, improving compliance while reducing downtime and unnecessary stoppages. When comparing radar with traditional optical devices, the advantages become clear. While laser scanners provide 2D monitoring and can be affected by dust or fog, radar offers 3D volumetric detection, is unaffected by environmental changes, and requires minimal maintenance. It can be mounted flexibly on ceilings, walls, or floors, and is fully certified for restart prevention as part of a complete safety system. Although EN ISO 10218-2 does not prescribe specific technologies, Hill observes that radar-based detection is increasingly recognised as a reliable, adaptable solution for modern manufacturing environments. Field data from palletising and CNC machining applications shows reduced false alarms and improved uptime compared with conventional optical systems. “As part of our mission to champion innovation and safety in industrial automation, we believe that the Inxpect 3D radar system represents a significant development in restart prevention technology. It’s time to consider moving beyond the limitations of 2D detection and adopt volumetric, intelligent 3D sensing that safeguards workers without slowing productivity,” Hill concludes. For further information please visit: https://fortop.co.uk/ Carrick Hill, business development manager, fortop Automation & Energy Control
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