There are three types of standards used in the European Union. Type A, B, and C standards differ in terms of their relative scope. Type A standards are general standards and B and C standards become more specified in terms of product type and risks/hazards being addressed. In order to understand how these standards all work together, the first thing is to understand what each type addresses so that you then know how to find the ones that apply to your product.

Type A standards are the most generalized standards. They cover high-level design concepts and general aspects that can be applied to all products and industries. For example, ISO 12100 is a Type A standard. ISO 12100 should be the starting point in any product design as it covers the Risk Assessment process. This process should be done for all machinery, no matter the machine type.

​Type B standards are a bit more focused than Type A. These standards are divided into two sub-types:

Type B1 = deal with specific safety items
Type B2 = deal with specific safety safeguards

As you can see, both Type B standards can be applicable across multiple industries or machine types. Type B1 standards cover safety topics such as safety distances to hazards, surface temperatures, and safety time to a motion stop. Type B2 standards specifically focus on individual safeguards. For example, ISO 13857 is about mechanical safeguards and ISO 13855 is about light curtains.

During the machine design stage, once you have completed your risk assessment according to ISO 12100, you will then turn your attention to applicable Type B standards that relate to your specific hazards and your mitigation items to those hazards.

Type C standards specify even further and give detailed safety requirements on specific types of machinery. These standards become industry specific and can cover examples such as robotic systems (ISO 10218) or hydraulic presses (EN 415). These standards cover specific safety topics that relate to the specific industries of your product. These are the most detailed standards and typically are the most important standards, besides the over-arching risk assessment, and you will want to ensure your product complies with its Type C standard. 

Takeaway:
As you can see, as you go through the design process, you will incrementally get more specific as you deal with all safety items of your product. Although there are hundreds of European standards, only a few of them need to be analyzed for your specific product. Starting at the most general standard to assess your product with the Risk Assessment (Type A), you will incrementally get more detailed in your safety analysis of your machine. Additionally, if you are working with additional Directives such as ATEX, you will need to apply additional Type B and C standards. By taking it one step at a time, you will simplify your entire compliance process and have no issues when the time comes to release your machine to the market.