Robot safety: the standards and rules that apply

The standards in one table

Standards are voluntary on their own. They matter because regulators, courts, insurers and customers use them as the benchmark of reasonable practice, and because meeting them is the most defensible way to show you took known hazards seriously.

ISO 10218 and the 2025 revision

ISO 10218 is the core standard for industrial robots. Part 1 covers the robot as a machine: its controls, stopping functions, speed limits and safety-rated functions. Part 2 covers the application: the cell layout, guarding, sensors, end effector, fixtures and how people interact with it. Both parts were revised and republished in 2025, and the US adopted them as ANSI/A3 R15.06.

The revision clarified requirements for functional safety and brought more of the collaborative application guidance into the standard. If your integrator is still quoting the 2011 or 2012 editions, ask why, and ask which edition the cell will be designed to.

Collaborative applications

The standards describe applications as collaborative, not robots. The familiar ways to share space safely are a safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring, and power and force limiting. ISO/TS 15066 supplies the detail for power and force limiting, including limits for contact with different regions of the body.

A cobot sold as "collaborative" can still hurt someone if it carries a blade, a hot part or a heavy load, or if it can trap a hand against a fixture. See collaborative robots for how this shapes the buying decision.

Mobile robots

Autonomous mobile robots in plants and warehouses fall under ANSI/A3 R15.08, and driverless trucks and AGVs under ANSI/ITSDF B56.5 in the US (ISO 3691-4 internationally). Robots in public-facing settings such as restaurants, hotels and hospitals are usually designed to ISO 13482 or UL 3300. Ask the vendor which standard the product was evaluated to, and by whom. Guides for warehouse robots, delivery and serving robots and cleaning robots cover the practical side.

What OSHA requires

OSHA has no standard written specifically for robots. Several general rules still apply to a robot cell:

• The General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act) requires employers to keep the workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm. OSHA can and does cite it for robot hazards, often pointing to the consensus standards as evidence the hazard was recognized.
• Lockout/tagout (29 CFR 1910.147) applies when employees service or maintain a robot where unexpected start-up or stored energy could injure them. That means written energy control procedures, locks, training and periodic inspection of the procedures.
• Machine guarding (29 CFR 1910.212) requires guarding of hazards such as points of operation and pinch points on machines generally.

OSHA also publishes a Technical Manual chapter on industrial robot safety. Some states run their own OSHA-approved plans with rules that can differ. Check with a safety professional or an employment lawyer for your state.

The risk assessment

A useful risk assessment for a robot cell does these things:

1. Describes the task, the robot, the end effector, the parts and every person who comes near it.
2. Lists hazards: impact, crushing, pinching, cutting, ejected parts, electrical, pneumatic, noise.
3. Estimates severity and likelihood for each one.
4. Chooses controls in order: design out the hazard, then guard, then warn and train.
5. Verifies that the chosen controls work, including safety-rated settings and stopping distances.
6. Is revisited whenever the task, part, gripper, speed or layout changes.

ANSI/A3 publishes a technical report on risk assessment for robot systems, and many integrators use it as their template. Keep the signed assessment on file; insurers and customer auditors ask for it.

Service robots and the public

A robot vacuum in an office or a serving robot in a restaurant meets customers and visitors, not trained staff. Check that it stops for obstacles and people, that its docking station does not block exits or accessible routes, that its battery is certified for the charging setup you use, and that your liability insurer knows it is there.

Lockout/tagout kits

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OSHA's lockout/tagout rule applies when staff service or maintain a robot. A kit of locks, hasps and tags is the starting point for written energy control procedures.

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Prices retrieved from Amazon on 2026-09-29 and may since have changed; the price on Amazon at the time of purchase is the one that applies. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. No manufacturer pays for a place in this list.

Before you buy

1. Ask which standard, and which edition, the robot and the cell were designed to.
2. Require a documented risk assessment for your actual task, signed by the integrator.
3. Write lockout/tagout procedures for the robot before it goes live.
4. Train operators and maintenance staff; keep the training records.
5. Decide who re-assesses the cell when the part, gripper or layout changes.
6. Tell your insurer, and ask what they want to see.
7. For legal questions, talk to a safety professional or lawyer familiar with your state plan.