Overview - Safety of Machinery (ISO 13849)

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

This online video course provides a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to ISO 13849, the internationally recognized standard for the safety-related parts of control systems used in machinery. The course is specifically designed for beginners who have little or no prior experience with ISO 13849 and who are looking for a clear, structured overview rather than detailed design calculations.

Throughout the course, learners will gain an understanding of the purpose and background of ISO 13849 and its role in reducing risks associated with industrial machinery. The course explains how ISO 13849 fits into the overall machine safety process and how it complements standards such as ISO 12100 by providing requirements for the design and validation of safety-related control systems.

Key concepts including risk assessment, hazard identification, safety functions, Performance Levels (PL a to PL e), Categories B, 1, 2, 3, and 4, MTTFd, Diagnostic Coverage (DC), Common Cause Failures (CCF), verification, and validation are introduced in a practical and easy-to-follow manner.

A continuous engineering example based on an automated robotic workcell is used throughout the course to demonstrate how hazards are identified, risks are evaluated, safety functions are defined, and Performance Levels are determined. This project-based approach helps learners understand not only the individual concepts but also how they fit together within a complete machine safety engineering process.

The course focuses on explaining what ISO 13849 requires, why these engineering activities are important, and how they contribute to safer machinery, rather than performing detailed reliability calculations or teaching specialized software tools. Advanced mathematical calculations and component selection methods are intentionally kept at a high level to ensure the course remains accessible to engineers who are new to machine functional safety.

By the end of the course, participants will understand the complete ISO 13849 safety lifecycle—from hazard identification and risk assessment to safety function design, Performance Level determination, verification, validation, and documentation. They will also understand how structured engineering processes contribute to the development of safer industrial machines and automated systems.

This course is ideal for machine design engineers, automation engineers, controls engineers, robotics engineers, electrical engineers, functional safety engineers, machine builders, project managers, engineering students, and anyone seeking a practical introduction to ISO 13849 and machinery functional safety.