IEC 62061

IEC 62061
Title	IEC 62061
Othernames	Safety of machinery — Functional safety of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems
Status	Published
Year	2005
Organization	International Electrotechnical Commission
Committee	TC 44
Related	IEC 61508, ISO 13849, EN 62061

IEC 62061 IEC 62061 is an international technical standard addressing the functional safety of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems for machinery. It integrates principles of system design, risk assessment, validation and verification to achieve safety-related performance and aligns with broader frameworks developed by organizations such as the International Electrotechnical Commission, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, and International Organization for Standardization. The standard is applied across sectors including automotive manufacturing, process plants, robotics and power generation where organizations like Siemens, ABB, Schneider Electric and Rockwell Automation implement safety-related control systems.

Overview

IEC 62061 specifies requirements for the design and integration of safety-related control systems and maps safety functions to quantifiable performance levels. It complements foundational work by committees such as IEC TC 44 and references lifecycle models promoted by ISO/TC 199 and CENELEC TC 44X. The standard is often contrasted with other safety norms used by manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corporation, General Electric, and Ford Motor Company when establishing functional safety targets for automated equipment. Regulatory authorities and certification bodies including TÜV Rheinland, TÜV SÜD, UL (Underwriters Laboratories), and SGS frequently assess compliance against IEC 62061 during conformity evaluations.

Scope and Objectives

IEC 62061 applies to electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems performing safety functions on machinery produced by companies such as KUKA, Fanuc, and Mitsubishi Electric. Its objectives include defining safety-related system architecture, establishing safety integrity requirements, and setting verification and validation activities similar to methodologies used in standards from ISO/IEC JTC 1 and IEEE. The scope excludes non-electrical protective devices traditionally covered by committees like ISO/TC 299 and is intended to be used alongside sectoral rules such as those from European Commission directives and national regulators like Health and Safety Executive.

Relationship to Other Standards

IEC 62061 is technically linked to functional safety standards such as IEC 61508, and it has a complementary relationship with ISO 13849-1 and ISO 13849-2. It interfaces with region-specific standards like EN 62061 and contributes to harmonization efforts coordinated by bodies including CEN and CENELEC. Industry-specific standards—examples include those from API (American Petroleum Institute), ASME, and IEC 61511 for process industries—are referenced when aligning safety lifecycle activities. Certification and market-entry processes often involve assessment against directives like the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and oversight by notified bodies such as BSI and DIN.

Functional Safety Concepts and Requirements

The standard requires allocation of Safety Integrity Levels comparable to Performance Levels used by ISO 13849; designers use probabilistic metrics influenced by methodologies from Reliability Engineering and organizations like IEEE Reliability Society. IEC 62061 prescribes hardware and software measures, systematic capability evaluations, fault detection strategies, diagnostics, and architectural constraints similar to practices at firms like Emerson Electric and Honeywell. It mandates structured development processes, validation of programmable logic controllers used by Rockwell Automation or Siemens and verification activities akin to model-based techniques promoted by ECSEL and academic groups such as ETH Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Risk Assessment and Safety Lifecycle

IEC 62061 adopts a lifecycle approach that parallels the system lifecycle advocated by IEC 61508 and methodologies used by NASA and ESA in safety-critical engineering. Risk assessment activities require identification of hazards, estimation of risk, assignment of safety functions and determination of required safety performance, tasks similar to those in guidance from ISO/TC 199 and CEN/TC 144. The lifecycle phases—concept, design, implementation, validation, commissioning, operation, maintenance and modification—mirror processes used by large industrial operators such as BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil to manage machinery safety.

Compliance, Certification, and Implementation

Compliance with IEC 62061 is typically demonstrated through documentation, testing, third-party assessment and certification by organizations like TÜV Rheinland, Intertek, UL, or national accreditation bodies such as DAkkS. Implementers often follow project management and quality assurance practices from ISO 9001 and rely on toolchains and PLC vendors including Siemens and Schneider Electric to provide certified components. Insurers, legal counsel and procuring entities like European Commission contracting bodies may require evidence of conformance during procurement and type-approval processes.

Application Examples and Industry Adoption

IEC 62061 is applied in robotics cells by suppliers such as KUKA and ABB, in automotive assembly lines at Volkswagen and BMW, in packaging machinery by Bosch Packaging Technology and in heavy machinery at Caterpillar. In process industries, operators like Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Dow Chemical Company employ the standard for safety instrumented functions alongside IEC 61511 practices. Adoption is widespread in Europe, parts of Asia and North America where trade associations like CECE, VDMA and SMEs Europe promote harmonized safety engineering. Category:IEC standards