Cobot safety and guarding: what UK manufacturers need to assess.
Collaborative robot features can support closer human interaction, but the complete application must still be risk assessed. Tooling, products, fixtures and surrounding equipment often determine whether guarding is required.
Select the operating concept from the task and required interaction.
Collaborative applications may use safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring, or power and force limiting. The appropriate mode depends on what people need to do and when they enter the workspace.
A cell can also combine modes—for example, faster automatic production when the area is clear and reduced-speed operation during an authorised interaction.
- Safety-rated monitored stop
- Hand guiding
- Speed and separation monitoring
- Power and force limiting
- Mode selection and authorised access
- Safe restart and recovery
The tool and workpiece can be more hazardous than the arm.
Sharp, hot, heavy or fragile products may be unsuitable for unguarded collaborative handling. Grippers can create pinch points, and the robot can trap a person against a fixed object even at relatively low speed.
Loss of grip, pneumatic failure, unexpected product movement and access to adjacent machinery should be included in the assessment.
- Crushing and trapping
- Sharp or pointed tools
- Hot or hazardous products
- Dropped or ejected workpieces
- Stored pneumatic or electrical energy
- Interaction with fixtures and machinery
Document the final settings and test the real application.
Safety parameters, tool data, payload, speed zones and protective devices should be controlled and verified as part of the machine. Changes to tooling, product or layout may require the assessment to be reviewed.
Use current official guidance and applicable standards for the destination market. A web guide cannot replace the project-specific risk assessment and validation.
- Risk assessment
- Safety requirements specification
- Stopping and separation checks
- Force or pressure validation where applicable
- Safety-function verification
- Change-control and documentation
Check current official safety and conformity guidance.
This page provides planning guidance, not a project-specific risk assessment. Confirm current legislation, designated standards and editions for the actual machine and destination market.
Frequently asked questions
These answers provide an initial planning framework. Final requirements are confirmed against the product, process, site and applicable safety obligations.
Is a cobot safe to touch?
The arm may include functions intended to limit risk, but safe contact depends on the application, speed, force, body region, tool, product and surroundings. Contact is not automatically acceptable.
Does a cobot need a risk assessment?
Yes. The complete machine and all operating modes must be assessed. The risk assessment determines whether collaborative operation, additional sensing or physical guarding is appropriate.
Can a cobot use a sharp tool?
It may be technically possible, but the tool hazard can make close human collaboration unsuitable. Guarding or separation may be required regardless of the robot arm type.
What happens if the product changes?
A change in mass, shape, edges, temperature, grip or path can affect safety and performance. The risk assessment, payload data, program and validation should be reviewed.
Continue planning your automation project
Use these pages to compare approaches, define the application and prepare the information needed for a useful feasibility review.
Complete robot cell integration
See how robot, tooling, controls, vision and safety are delivered as one system.
Read more →Robot selection matrix
Compare 20 reference robot and manipulator platforms.
Read more →Discuss your application
Turn the planning information into a project-specific feasibility review.
Read more →Discuss the production task with an automation engineer.
Send the product details, required output, available space and a photo or short video of the current process. We will review the application and identify the next engineering step.