‘EN ISO 14119:2013 Safety of machinery – Interlocking devices associated with guards – Principles for design and selection’. This comprehensive standard contains a wealth of valuable information describing the selection and the use of interlocks and interlocking devices, either with or without guard locking, for monitoring safety doors, covers and other movable guards. ISO 14119 replaces all the former national standards on this subject and is valid worldwide, formally, the previous standard was purely a European entity, whereas this is published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
Meeting the ISO 14119 Standard…
Guard interlocks should only allow access to processing equipment once the risk of injury has been completely removed, such as machines that continue to move due to inertia and over-travel. The application of ISO 14119 provides the design engineer with an added assurance that the necessary requirements of the machinery directives have been met.
ISO 14119 considers the operating principles of more recent innovations in interlock devices, such as those which utilise RFID and electromagnetic technology, providing specifications and details on how to install them properly. Each safety access gate must be examined for how it can be manipulated as well as its static and dynamic forces (minimum holding forces) to help with protection against defeating machine guards.
Machine designers now have access to a much wider range of interlocking guard technologies which places more responsibility on them when trying to prevent their deliberate bypassing. The specifications regarding the connection of safety switches and safety gates in series is another aspect of ISO 14119 which examines the issue of fault masking.
Fault Masking?
Fault masking is when there is an unintended resetting of faults even when using a safety control system which can be very dangerous when operators expect safety devices to be functional. For example, if a machine stops due to jamming caused by a manufactured product, the operator assumes that opening the safety guard will put the machine in a safe state. The operator enters the hazardous area and the machines start unexpectedly when the jammed part is removed because there was a fault with the door switch that was being masked by the previous issue.
Make sure you comply
ISO 14119 comprehensively examines the use of the interlocking and machine guarding options available to the installation and design engineers. Ensuring that their processes, equipment and more importantly the users of the equipment are fully protected from issues such as fault-masking and interlock bypassing. The above is just a hint at the what ISO 14119 includes, for a full understanding it’s advisable that you obtain a copy of your own to make sure that you are protecting the users of your machines, yourself and your company.
Get those interlocks
To help you meet the requirements of ISO 14119, Kempston Controls, one of the UK leading suppliers of electronic and electrical components, has a comprehensive offering of interlock and machine guarding products to ensure your latest project measures up to the ISO 14119 standard. With products from leading brands such as Pizzato, Schmersal, SICK and many more we have everything you need to guarantee that your next machine guarding installation or retrofitting project meets all the essential ISO 14119 standards you need. Give our sales team a call on +44 (0) 1933 411411 or email them at sales@kempstoncontrols.co.uk to discuss your machine safety requirements.
Kempston Controls is committed to finding you the ideal solution for your application. Call us today on +44 (0) 1933 411 411, email us at sales@kempstoncontrols.co.uk, or alternatively contact us here, we will be happy to help.
