Some manufacturers of variable speed electrical Power Drive Systems now offer products with safety-related functionality. This guide sets out the functional safety considerations for the selection and application of these products to machinery. It does not set out requirements for the manufacture of these products.

It is the responsibility of the machine builder to ensure the safety of their machine. The control system of a machine can play a part in its safety performance (i.e. functional safety), and so any modification to the control system requires a reappraisal of the machine’s risk assessment.

As the installation of a drive into a machine can represent a considerable modification to its control system, it has the potential to affect the safety performance of the machine. The implications of such a modification must therefore be carefully considered.

Selection of a drive with appropriate safety functions is critical, as is the subsequent integration of that drive with other components into the control system of the machine.

A drive with safety functionality can be used to implement specific safety functions. A drive with no safety functionality should not be relied upon to implement any safety functions, without the use of supplementary safety-related control systems

The use of a safety-related drive in a machine will not necessarily result in a safe machine.

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