# Industrial & collaborative robot safety (OSHA, US public domain)

Citable source document for the IACE robot/cobot hazard taxonomy and the
reduced-speed anchor. US Government work — free to reuse verbatim.

## Source

- **Source:** US OSHA — Technical Manual (OTM), Section IV, Chapter 4: Industrial Robots & Robot System Safety; and OSHA Guidelines for Robotics Safety (STD 01-12-002)
- **License:** US Government work — **public domain** (17 U.S.C. §105)
- **Attribution:** `Source: US OSHA Technical Manual §IV ch.4 / STD 01-12-002, public domain`
- **Retrieved:** 2026-06
- **URLs:** https://www.osha.gov/otm/section-4-safety-hazards/chapter-4 · https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/std-01-12-002

## Reduced / teach-mode speed limit

OSHA states (quoting the ANSI/RIA basis): during teach/manual mode, robot speed
should be at a **reduced speed of 10 inches per second (250 mm/s) or less** at the
tool center point. This is the public, citable basis for the IACE 250 mm/s teach
anchor (matches the GT Bremse session and engine measure M340/M492).

## Robot hazard taxonomy

| Hazard | Description |
|---|---|
| Impact / collision | Unpredicted movement, component malfunction, unexpected program changes |
| Crushing / trapping | Operator trapped between robot arm and fixed structure; pinch points |
| Struck-by (mechanical part) | Failure of gripper/end-effector; ejected workpiece, tool or debris |
| Electrical / hydraulic / pneumatic | Stored energy, high-pressure fluid injection, energized parts |
| Slip / trip / fall | Around the cell, cabling, fluids |
| Environmental | Arc flash, fumes, noise, radiation depending on process |

## Safeguarding hierarchy (OSHA / ANSI basis)

Fixed barriers → interlocked guards → presence-sensing (light curtains, area
scanners, safety mats) → enabling/hold-to-run devices in teach mode → speed-and-
separation monitoring (collaborative) → power-and-force limiting (collaborative)
→ awareness barriers/signs. Energy isolation (lockout/tagout) for maintenance.

## How these are used in IACE

1. **Reduced-speed anchor:** the 250 mm/s teach limit is a public-domain anchor
   for robot/cobot speed-limiting measures (no copyrighted standard needed).
2. **Hazard taxonomy:** seeds the robot/cobot hazard categories (impact, crush,
   struck-by, energy) for pattern coverage checks.
3. **Safeguarding hierarchy:** orders the protective-measure suggestions for
   robot cells (barriers → sensing → enabling → SSM/PFL → LOTO).

For the collaborative force/pressure LIMITS see `cobot_biomech_limits.md`
(CC BY 4.0 papers); ISO/TS 15066 tables are not reproduced.