As the successor to EN 954-1, the standard EN ISO 13849-1 is the main standard for the design of safety-related control systems in the "machinery safety" sector.
The new standard was ratified in November 2006 and has been harmonised under the Machinery Directive since May 2007. Although EN 954-1 has been formally withdrawn as a result, after some to-ing and fro-ing, it can still be applied until the end of December 2011. It should be noted that, despite its harmonisation, there is some controversy among experts as to whether EN 954-1 represents the state-of-the-art.
But what's new in EN ISO 13849-1? In addition to the proven categories as defined in the current EN 954-1, additional requirements for programmable electronic systems have been defined and performance levels (PL) have been introduced. [... more]
