ISO 19014-1:2018

Overview

ISO 19014-1:2018 - "Earth‑moving machinery - Functional safety - Part 1" defines a methodology to determine which parts of an earth‑moving machine’s control system are safety‑related and the performance requirements they must meet. The standard establishes a Machine Control System Safety Analysis (MCSSA) approach to quantify required risk reduction as a Machine Performance Level (MPL). It applies to earth‑moving machinery as defined in ISO 6165 and can be used for other off‑road mobile machinery.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Machine Performance Level (MPL): Discrete levels used to specify the required ability of safety‑related parts of control systems to perform safety functions (MPLr = required, MPLa = achieved).
• Machine Control System Safety Analysis (MCSSA): A structured risk‑assessment method to identify hazards associated with control systems and determine the MPLr needed to reduce risk.
• Risk assessment inputs: Uses ISO 12100 principles (severity, exposure, controllability) and considers application/use cases, hazard time and person groups (operator, co‑worker, bystander, maintainer).
• Performance level determination procedure: Steps to assess potential harm, exposure, ability to avoid harm, and to derive the required MPL for each safety‑related part of the control system (SRP/CS).
• Immediate action warning indicators: Requirements for indicators that demand immediate operator action to mitigate hazards.
• Scope exclusions and clarifications: ISO 19014‑1 covers hazards caused by SCS failure but excludes hazards from the equipment itself (e.g., electric shock, fire). Non‑safety controls where operator awareness of failure is expected (wipers, lights) are excluded. Audiable warnings are excluded from diagnostic coverage requirements.
• Supporting materials: Informative annexes include a process flow chart (Annex A), warning/operation indicators table (Annex B), an MCSSA example (Annex C) and a list of possible SCS for earth‑moving machines (Annex D).

Practical applications and users

Who uses ISO 19014‑1:

• Machine manufacturers and design engineers - to identify safety‑related control functions and set MPL requirements during system design.
• Functional safety engineers and system integrators - to carry out MCSSA and align control system architecture with required performance.
• Regulators, safety assessors and testing bodies - to evaluate whether control systems meet required risk reduction.
• Maintenance and service organizations - to understand safety‑related elements and diagnostic/indicator requirements.

Practical benefits:

• Clear, repeatable method to quantify safety requirements for control systems.
• Helps align machine control design with recognized international risk‑assessment practice (ISO 12100).
• Supports safer deployment of autonomous and assisted control functions in earth‑moving equipment.

Related standards

• ISO 12100 - Safety of machinery: general principles for design - risk assessment and risk reduction
• ISO 6165 - Earth‑moving machinery: basic types and terms
• Other parts of the ISO 19014 series (Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, and ISO/TS 19014‑5) address SRP/CS architecture, hardware, software and MPL tables (some under development).