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