Page 36 - MetalForming December 2011

New Industrial Robot Safety Standard
includes considerably more detail on what is expected with a risk assess- ment and what considerations must be included. This is a direct acknowl- edgement that it is not possible in a standard to offer prescribed safe- guarding requirements for every pos- sible robot-system design. Every robot system is different, and the detailed requirements of the system must be individually reviewed. Through a com- prehensive risk assessment, the prop- er safeguarding requirements can be determined and implemented to ensure personnel safety in the work- place.
Among other new significant addi- tions to the standard are two items that will enhance worker productivity while still delivering a reliable level of safety for the system. One is called “safety- rated soft axis and space limiting,” and is the enabling technology for the sec- ond addition—“collaborative robot operation.”
Safety-rated soft axis and space lim-
iting allows positive control of the robot location, and thus provides for the safe- ty of the worker. It allows areas in the robot’s restricted space to be designat- ed inclusive or exclusive, by limiting the motion of the robot. Case studies fea- turing robot systems using this tech- nology, presented at RIA’s annual National Robot Safety Conference, have suggested floor-space savings on the order of 30 percent and cost savings of $125,000 per robot system.
Collaborative robot operation rein- troduces the “man-in-the-loop” in the production cycle of robot system oper- ation. The current standard eliminated a feature called continuous attended operation, considered unsafe with the level of safety technology and sensors back when the standard was written. However, the last 10-plus years have seen a dramatic increase in safety tech- nology, machine control and safety- rated software. I had the pleasure, last March, of assisting in demonstrating the application of collaborative robot
operation at the RIA booth at the Auto- mate 2011 show in Chicago. In addition to improving productivity, the collab- orative operation practice promises to reduce fixture costs, while also improv- ing the level of safety provided to the worker.
Information for Use
International standards are written to address requirements of the product manufacturers and suppliers, which includes requirements for “informa- tion for use.” This information is intended to be instructions and guid- ance for the safe use of the machinery, but it is not written in “normative” form to the user of the equipment. We typically claim that U.S. and Canadian standards also are written to the “user,” and believe that is the case with the current R15.06 and Z434.
Moreover, we believe that assign- ing responsibilities to stakeholders at all levels of involvement with an indus- trial robot system—the robot manu- facturer and supplier, safety-compo- nent supplier, integrator, installer and the user—ensures that the end user will receive the support needed to pro- vide for a safe and productive indus- trial-robot workcell.
The two associations’ technical com- mittees are working to ensure that the new standard contains the appropri- ate requirements, assigning responsi- bilities to the user to actually follow the instructions provided by the robot- system manufacturer and supplier, in order to develop good work practices and training programs for the operators. The committees also are busy updating and including the annexes from the current R15.06 and Z434 standards.
A publication date for the new stan- dard has not yet been decided, but the draft document was introduced at the RIA annual safety conference and can be obtained from the association. When this document is confirmed as National Standards of the United States and Canada, we can look forward to a future of continued and enhanced safe- ty for personnel working with industrial robots. MF
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