PLANT MACHINERY & SITE SAFETY MOBILE ROBOT SAFETY
Stewart Robinson MIET MInstMC, Advisory Consultant and Functional Safety Expert at TÜV SÜD, outlines the safety requirements for driverless industrial vehicles and their systems, as well as how to check that they meet those requirements.
aspect or protective device relevant to a wide range of machinery. Type-C: Contain the safety requirements for a specific machine or type of machine.
A Type-C standard has priority over Type-A and Type-B.
The condition of the operating environment has a significant effect on the safe operation of a truck. So, Annex A of the standard, which covers the requirements for the preparation of the operating zones, must be used to reduce risks when preparing the zones.
While Industry 4.0 sees reduced risk in several areas, the range and flexibility of connected interfaces introduce a new set of risk issues, particularly as human interaction with automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) increases.
ISO 3691-4:2023 – Industrial trucks – safety requirements and verification – Part 4: Driverless industrial trucks and their systems – covers autonomous vehicle safety guidelines. It outlines the safety requirements for driverless industrial vehicles and their systems, as well as how to check that they meet those requirements. First published in February 2020, and further updated in 2023, this standard is still relatively new to the machinery world.
The standard applies to all stakeholders – machinery manufacturers, integrators and operators. This ensures there is co-responsibility to create a unified approach towards AGV safety and risk management.
ISO 3691-4 is well aligned with ISO 13849. This other safety standard applies to parts of machinery control systems that are assigned to provide safety functions. It details safety requirements and guidance on the principles of design, and the integration of safety-related parts of control systems (hardware or software). This means it provides invaluable guidance for carrying out safety assessments for the complete AGV. ISO 3691-4 should not be seen as a standalone document to assume conformity with other AGV standards and the EU’s Machinery Regulation or the UK’s Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations.
ISO 3691-4 is a Type-C standard because it contains the safety requirements for a specific type of machine. Regarding machinery safety, ISO and EN standards are categorised in three types:
Type-A: Basic safety standards containing principles of design and general aspects that can be applied to all machinery. Type-B: Group safety standards that cover a safety
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Annex B lists all significant hazards, hazardous situations or hazardous events that must be considered during the life of the truck. Not only should this include hazards relevant to the machine when it is being used as intended, this should also cover conditions of misuse that are considered reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer. The minimum Performance Level (PL) required according to ISO 13849, for the different safety functions, are based on the hazards listed in this annex.
“AS PRODUCTION FACILITIES BECOME MORE COMPLEX, OPERATORS MUST MANAGE A RAPIDLY EVOLVING SYSTEM THAT INCORPORATES MULTIPLE INTERDEPENDENCIES, WHILE MINIMISING DOWNTIME.”
When designing the safety functions, it is vital that the complete system is taken into account. So, to optimise safety the interrelationships between the multiple functions of the AGV must be considered for the protection of operators and other assets around them. For example, the AGV’s control system must manage both safety and non-safety functions, so it must be taken into account that some functions may not only impact safety, but also non-safety functions.
As production facilities become more complex, operators must manage a rapidly evolving system that incorporates multiple interdependencies, while minimising downtime. However, current standards, such as ISO 3691-4, have not been designed around the concept of machine connectivity and interoperability. It is therefore becoming increasingly impossible to apply existing risk assessment criteria to a dynamic I4.0 operating environment that is characterised by multiple interactions and data flows. When faced with the challenge of navigating a complex new risk landscape, effective safety is a challenge. Machinery manufacturers and end users are facing a major shift in work methodology, which requires an innovative approach that matches the increasingly innovative technologies being deployed.
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