ISO 14123-1:2015

Overview

ISO 14123-1:2015 - Safety of machinery - Reduction of risks to health resulting from hazardous substances emitted by machinery - Part 1: Principles and specifications for machinery manufacturers - establishes principles and manufacturer requirements for identifying and controlling health risks from hazardous substances emitted by machinery. It is a type‑B1 standard (guidance on a specific safety aspect) intended to support machine design, risk assessment and the selection of protective measures.
Note: ISO 14123-1:2015 does not apply to substances that are hazardous solely because they are explosive, flammable, radioactive or behave as hazards only at extremes of temperature or pressure.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Risk assessment: Manufacturers must identify hazards and assess foreseeable exposure across the machine life cycle (transport, installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance, failure, dismantling, etc.), taking ISO 12100 into account.
• Types of emissions: Distinguishes airborne emissions (inhalation risks, aerosols, fumes, gases) and non‑airborne emissions (skin contact, ingestion, surface contamination), with examples and measurement considerations.
• Control hierarchy (in order of priority, aligned with ISO 12100 “three‑step method”):
  • Inherently safe design to eliminate hazards at source.
  • If elimination not possible, apply safeguarding and complementary measures in priority order:
    1. Reduce emissions at source.
    2. Ventilation or engineering controls (local extraction, enclosure).
    3. Operational controls or segregation to reduce exposure.
  • Provide information on residual risks and user measures.
• Information for use and maintenance: Instruction manuals must state intended use, substances that can be generated, operating/setting conditions that reduce risk, competence/training needs, and correct use of risk‑reduction features.
• Verification: Requirements and/or procedures for verifying the effectiveness of safety measures are included; Part 2 of ISO 14123 covers methodology leading to verification procedures.
• Annex A: Informative examples of protective measures for reducing exposure.

Practical applications and users

Who uses ISO 14123-1:

• Machine manufacturers designing equipment to minimize hazardous substance emissions.
• Health & safety regulators, market surveillance bodies, and standards writers (type‑C machine standards).
• Employers, maintenance/service providers, and safety professionals implementing safe operation, maintenance and verification procedures. Practical uses:
• Integrating hazardous‑substance risk controls into machine design and specification.
• Preparing user instructions, training requirements and maintenance regimes.
• Selecting ventilation, extraction, enclosures or operational segregation solutions.
• Supporting conformity assessments and development of machine‑specific (type‑C) standards.

Related standards

• ISO 12100:2010 - General principles for design, risk assessment and risk reduction (normative reference).
• ISO 14123‑2 - Methodology leading to verification procedures (companion document).

Keywords: ISO 14123-1, safety of machinery, hazardous substances, risk reduction, airborne emissions, non‑airborne emissions, machine manufacturers, risk assessment, ventilation, inherently safe design.