Feature

Cobot safety: What manufacturers need to know

ISO 10218:2025 is an international standard which covers the safety requirements for industrial robots, ensuring that humans are not exposed to unacceptable risks when working collaboratively. Here, Stewart Robinson, Advisory Consultant and Functional Safety Expert at TÜV SÜD, breaks down what manufacturers need to know.

01/12/2025 12:28:26

Robot with big arms

ISO 10218:2025 describes three separate measures that can be used to provide risk reduction. It is required that at least one of these is fulfilled, in addition to having visual indication that the robot is in collaborative operation:

1. Hand guided control
In this mode, the human can guide the robot at the end effector by hand. Additional requirements for safety include safe-limited speed monitoring, a local emergency stop and the use of an enabling device, which is a three-position device that has to be held in the centre position.

2. Speed and separation monitoring
In this mode, the robot must maintain a specified separation distance from the human and operate at a predetermined speed. This measure requires careful risk assessment and needs to take account of safety distances, which should include the consideration of approach speeds of parts of the human body as described in EN ISO 13855.

Read the full article in DPA's December 2025 issue

Written By Sophia Bell

Sophia Bell is the Group Editor of DPA, Connectivity, and PBSI. She joined the team in 2020 as Assistant Editor after achieving a First-Class Honours BA in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. In her current role, she leads the editorial strategy, driving digital growth and ensuring each title continues to deliver trusted, relevant insight for engineering and manufacturing professionals.