How many hands can I see for “safety device”? Now, how many of you say – no, an e-stopping device is not a safety device? I see! So the room is practically divided into two camps. One of the camps has several individuals that sit on safety standards committees and others who are suppliers of e-stopping devices. You guys have voted that it’s not a safety device. The other camp, ahhh, has voted yes and, most of you guys are end users, OEM’s and systems designers. Why have you guys voted yes?

“Well, we’re in the business of developing the SRECS (safety related electrical control system) for machines and the related functional safety system. As such, e-stopping devices are part of that effort which provides for the safe stopping categories of 0 or 1 as required by the safety standards. Therefore, we consider e-stopping devices to be safety devices.”

As a reader of this message – where do you sit and why? Is an e-stopping device always actuated to achieve a safety related function / result? Let’s hear from you on this one!