IEC 62061-2024 PDF

Full title and description

St IEC 62061-2024 — Safety of machinery — Functional safety of safety-related control systems (consolidated edition: IEC 62061:2021 with Amendment 1:2024). This document specifies requirements and guidance for the design, integration and validation of safety-related electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems for machinery, including requirements for specification, architecture, performance (SIL), verification and validation across the machine life cycle.

Abstract

IEC 62061 establishes a machinery-sector implementation of IEC 61508 principles to determine and achieve required Safety Integrity Levels (SIL 1–3) for safety-related control functions. It covers identification of safety functions from risk assessment, allocation of safety requirements to SCS (safety‑related control systems), hardware architectural constraints, safe-failure fraction (SFF), probability of dangerous failures (PFHd/PFH), systematic capability and validation/verification activities required to demonstrate compliance. The 2024 amendment clarifies wording and updates calculation/assessment details such as the SFF estimation method.

General information

• Status: Published / Active.
• Publication date: 28 March 2024 (IEC consolidated publication: IEC 62061:2021 + Amendment 1:2024).
• Publisher: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
• ICS / categories: 13.110 (Safety of machinery); 25.040.99 (Other industrial automation systems); 29.020 (Electrical engineering in general).
• Edition / version: Edition 2.0 (IEC 62061:2021) consolidated with Amendment 1 (2024).
• Number of pages: Consolidated amendment document listing: 21 pages (amendment content). The full consolidated standard package (IEC 62061:2021 + Amd 1:2024) should be referenced for the complete page count in the full publication.

Scope

Specifies functional safety requirements for safety-related control systems (SCS) of machines that are not hand-portable while working. The standard applies to safety functions intended to reduce risks arising from the machine itself or coordinated groups of machines; it addresses the SCS design at system and subsystem levels, including non‑complex subsystems and final elements. IEC 62061 focuses on functional safety (not on general machine design outside SCS) and is intended to be used together with general machine safety standards and risk assessment practices.

Key topics and requirements

• Definition and allocation of safety functions derived from risk assessment and the safety requirements specification (SRS).
• Determination of required Safety Integrity Level (SILr) for each safety function and corresponding PFHd thresholds for SIL 1–3.
• Hardware architectural constraints, Safe Failure Fraction (SFF) and Hardware Fault Tolerance (HFT) rules that affect achievable SIL.
• Systematic capability — requirements to control systematic faults through development processes, validation, verification and documentation.
• Guidance on estimation methods (including updated SFF estimation) and formulas introduced or clarified in the 2024 amendment.
• Validation and verification activities across the machine life cycle, including testing, fault analysis, and evidence required to demonstrate compliance.

Typical use and users

Used by machine manufacturers (OEMs), control-system designers and integrators, safety engineers, third‑party assessors, notified bodies and conformity assessment organizations, and users responsible for machine installation and maintenance. It is applied when specifying, designing, implementing and validating safety-related control functions (e.g., emergency stop, guard interlocks, safe stop, monitoring functions) where SIL-based assessment is required or preferred.

Related standards

IEC 62061 is part of the functional-safety/ machinery ecosystem and is aligned with IEC 61508 (sector‑generic functional safety), and is often considered alongside ISO 13849-1 for machinery safety control systems. It complements general machine safety and risk standards such as ISO 12100 and electrical safety standards (e.g., IEC 60204-1) where applicable. Regional/adopted versions (EN IEC 62061) exist for harmonisation with the Machinery Directive.

Keywords

functional safety, safety-related control systems (SCS), SIL, safe failure fraction (SFF), hardware fault tolerance (HFT), PFHd/PFH, machine safety, verification, validation, IEC 61508, ISO 13849, safety requirements specification (SRS).

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: IEC 62061 specifies requirements and recommendations for functional safety of safety‑related electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems used on machinery, implemented as the machinery-sector application of IEC 61508 principles. The 2024 reference here denotes the consolidated publication incorporating Amendment 1 (2024) to the Edition 2.0 (2021) text.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers specification of safety functions from risk assessment, allocation of safety integrity requirements (SIL), hardware architecture and diagnostic considerations (SFF/HFT), PFHd targets, systematic capability requirements, and the verification/validation and documentation activities needed to show that the SCS meets its safety objectives. The 2024 amendment provides clarifications and updates to calculation/assessment methods (for example SFF estimation).

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Machine designers, controls engineers, safety specialists, system integrators, conformity assessors and certification bodies use IEC 62061 when designing, assessing or certifying machine safety‑related control systems where SIL‑based methods are required or appropriate.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: The consolidated document reflecting IEC 62061:2021 with Amendment 1 published in 2024 is published and current; it updates and clarifies the Edition 2.0 text rather than fully superseding a later edition. Users should reference the consolidated IEC publication (IEC 62061:2021 + Amd 1:2024) for the authoritative, current text.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: IEC 62061 is the machinery-sector functional safety standard derived from the broader IEC 61508 framework. It is commonly used alongside other machine and safety standards (e.g., ISO 13849-1, ISO 12100, IEC 60204-1) rather than as one part number in a numbered multi-part series.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Functional safety, SIL, safety-related control system (SCS), safety requirements specification (SRS), safe-failure fraction (SFF), PFHd, hardware fault tolerance (HFT), verification, validation, machine safety.