IEC 62368-1-2023 PDF

Full title and description

St IEC 62368-1-2023 — Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment — Part 1: Safety requirements. This hazard-based safety standard classifies energy sources, prescribes safeguards and provides requirements and guidance for the design and assessment of AV/ICT equipment to reduce risk of pain, injury and electrically-caused fire or property damage.

Abstract

IEC 62368-1:2023 (Edition 4) is a performance- and hazard-based standard that replaces earlier, prescriptive AV/IT safety standards by requiring identification and classification of energy sources, evaluation of energy-transfer mechanisms to people or fuel, and selection or verification of safeguards appropriate to the assessed energy level and user competence. The standard is intended for designers, test labs and conformity assessment bodies to demonstrate that products are acceptably safe under normal, abnormal and single-fault conditions.

General information

• Status: Published (base international standard; redline version also available).
• Publication date: 26 May 2023.
• Publisher: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
• ICS / categories: 33.160.01 (Audio/video); 35.020 (Information technology).
• Edition / version: Edition 4.0 (2023).
• Number of pages: 823 pages for the official edition; the Redline combined publication (standard + redline) is listed with a larger page count (reference redline edition).

Scope

Specifies safety requirements for completed audio/video, information and communication technology equipment (and relevant subassemblies) using a hazard-based approach: identify energy sources, measure or classify energy levels, determine potential energy-transfer mechanisms to people or fuel, and apply/design safeguards to prevent pain, injury or fire under normal, abnormal and single-fault conditions. The standard applies to products and equipment types previously covered by legacy standards in the AV/IT domain.

Key topics and requirements

• Hazard-based safety engineering (HBSE) methodology: identify energy sources, classify energy (ES1/ES2/ES3) and select safeguards.
• Definitions of user competence and responsibilities (ordinary person, instructed person, skilled person) that influence required protective measures and tests.
• Electrical, thermal, mechanical, chemical and radiated energy considerations, including criteria for electrically-caused fire hazards and ignition sources.
• Requirements for protective earthing, insulation, spacing (clearances/creepage referenced to IEC 60664 and related guidance), and touch-temperature limits per user category.
• Annexes and national/industry-specific options (for example harmonized or national differences, and redline comparison documents to show changes from prior editions).

Typical use and users

Primary users include product designers and R&D engineers, compliance and regulatory affairs teams, test laboratories and certification bodies, safety assessors, and procurement/specification professionals. Regulators and standards adopters use the document to develop national or regional adoptions and transition timelines. Manufacturers of consumer electronics, professional AV gear, IT equipment, subassemblies and components refer to this standard to demonstrate product safety.

Related standards

Replaces or consolidates requirements previously found in IEC 60950-1 (IT equipment) and IEC 60065 (audio/video equipment) for covered product classes; national and regional adoptions include EN/EN IEC variants and harmonized UL/CSA versions for North America. Other related normative references include general insulation and spacing standards such as IEC 60664 and specific battery standards referenced for energy sources (for example IEC 62133 series for batteries).

Keywords

hazard-based, HBSE, AV, ICT, safety requirements, energy source classification, safeguards, ES1 ES2 ES3, touch temperature, clearances, certification, IEC 62368-1.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: IEC 62368-1:2023 is the fourth edition of the international safety standard for audio/video, information and communication technology equipment that uses a hazard-based approach to specify safety requirements and safeguards.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers identification and classification of energy sources, assessment of energy-transfer mechanisms to people or fuel, and selection/verification of safeguards to prevent pain, injury or electrically-caused fire under normal, abnormal and single-fault conditions for AV/ICT equipment.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Manufacturers, design engineers, compliance teams, test labs, certification bodies and regulators use the standard for product design, testing, conformity assessment and national adoption.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: IEC 62368-1:2023 (Ed. 4.0) is the current IEC international edition published 26 May 2023. It supersedes earlier editions (Ed. 3.0 and corrigenda) and the legacy prescriptive standards for covered product classes. National/regional transition timelines may vary; check the applicable national adoption and enforcement dates for market-specific deadlines.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: Yes — it is Part 1 (safety requirements) of the IEC 62368 series; related documents, redline comparison editions and national/adopted variants (EN IEC, IS/IEC, UL/CSA harmonized versions) and normative references form the broader compliance ecosystem.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Hazard-based safety, energy source classification (ES1/ES2/ES3), safeguards, ordinary/instructed/skilled person, touch temperature, clearances/creepage, AV/ICT equipment, conformity assessment.