Overview
IEC Guide 104:2010 - "The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications and group safety publications" - is a mandatory IEC guide that defines procedures for preparing safety publications in addition to ISO/IEC Guide 51. Edition 4.0 (2010) clarifies how basic safety publications and group safety publications are written, referenced and used by product technical committees (product TCs). It also sets out the relationship between TCs with horizontal safety functions or group safety functions and product TCs. In this Guide, safety covers the protection of persons, domestic animals, livestock and property.
Key Topics and Requirements
- Mandatory scope and references
- Guide 104 is mandatory (SMB Decision) and must be used alongside ISO/IEC Directives and ISO/IEC Guide 51.
- Definitions
- Clear definitions for basic safety publication, group safety publication, product safety publication, horizontal safety function, group safety function, normal condition, single fault condition, and reinforced protection.
- Structure and content rules
- Basic and group safety publications shall contain only material relevant to the assigned safety function and must be understandable to product TCs.
- Both basic and group safety publications shall include IEC Guide 104 and ISO/IEC Guide 51 in their normative references.
- Mandatory scope text templates for basic/group safety publications are specified (to clarify intended users and applicability).
- Governance and responsibilities
- Assignment of horizontal and group safety functions is managed by the Advisory Committee on Safety (ACOS) and confirmed by the SMB.
- Product TCs are required to use basic/group safety publications when preparing product standards; changes to those publications should not be frequent to allow product standards to align.
- Clarifications in Edition 4
- Alignment with IEC Guide 108, improved description of group safety publications, and a clarification in Annex A on measures for single fault conditions.
Practical Applications and Who Uses It
- Target users:
- Technical Committees (TCs) and subcommittees preparing IEC standards that include safety requirements.
- Standards managers, editors, and safety engineers coordinating cross‑committee safety content.
- National committees and conformity assessment bodies referencing IEC structure.
- Practical uses:
- Establishing consistent, non‑contradictory safety requirements across multiple product standards.
- Creating or applying basic safety publications for horizontal hazards (e.g., electrical shock, fire) and group safety publications for related product groups.
- Guiding decisions on test severity levels, handling of single fault conditions, and lifecycle safety considerations.
Related Standards and Guidance
- ISO/IEC Guide 51 - Safety aspects - Guidelines for their inclusion in standards (normative companion).
- IEC Guide 108 - Guidelines for coherence of IEC publications (alignment noted in 104:2010).
- ISO/IEC Directives Parts 1 & 2 - Procedures and drafting rules for IEC/ISO standards.
By following IEC Guide 104:2010, standards developers ensure harmonized, clear and stable safety publications that product TCs can reliably apply across electrotechnical standards.