EN 981:1996+A1:2008

Safety of machinery - System of auditory and visual danger and information signals

To reduce risks associated with misinterpretation of visual and auditory danger signals, a system of danger and information signals is specified taking into account the different degrees of urgency.
This European Standard is applicable to all danger and information signals which have to be clearly perceived and differentiated as specified in 5.3 of EN 292-2:1991, by other requirements or by the work situation, and to all degrees of urgency – from extreme urgency to an ALL CLEAR situation. Where visual signals are to be complementary to sound signals, the signal character is specified for both.
This European Standard does not apply to certain fields covered by specific standards or other conventions in force (international or national); in particular, fire alarms, medical alarms, alarms used in the field of public transport, navigation signals and signals for special fields of activity (for example, military). When new signals are being planned, however, this European Standard should be considered in order to avoid inconsistency.
For auditory signals, the system of signal character is a guideline for a signal language based on message categories which are classified according to urgency. Certain characters are specified for purposes which require safe and rapid recognition. Certain categories allow possibilities for variants, e.g. control and warning signals at workplaces where the signalling is intended for personnel with specific training.
For visual signals, the established meanings of the safety colours are not affected by this European Standard. For different needs, complementary meanings have been assigned to the signals by timed patterns, and in a very few cases by alternating colours.

Sicherheit von Maschinen - System akustischer und optischer Gefahrensignale und Informationssignale

Zur Verminderung von Risiken, die mit Fehlinterpretationen von optischen und akustischen Signalen verbunden sind, zu vermindern, wird ein System von Gefahrensignalen und Informationssignalen unter Einbeziehung von verschiedenen Dringlichkeitsgraden festgelegt.
Diese Europäische Norm ist für alle Gefahrensignale und Informationssignale anwendbar, die deutlich wahrgenommen und unterschieden werden müssen, wie in EN 292-2:1991, 5.3, durch andere Anforderungen oder durch die Arbeitssituation festgelegt, und für alle Grade der Dringlichkeit — von äußerster Dringlichkeit bis zu dem Zustand ALLES KLAR. Wo als Ergänzung zu akustischen Signalen auch Lichtsignale zu verwenden sind, werden die Merkmale für beide Signale festgelegt.
Diese Europäische Norm gilt nicht für bestimmte Bereiche, die durch spezielle Normen oder durch andere zwingende Regelungen abgedeckt sind (international oder national); im einzelnen Feueralarme, medizinische Alarme, Alarme, die im Bereich des öffentlichen Verkehrs benutzt werden, Navigationssignale und Signale für besondere Tätigkeitsbereiche (z. B. Militär). Wenn jedoch neue Signale geplant werden, sollte diese Europäische Norm berücksichtigt werden, um Unvereinbarkeiten zu vermeiden.
Für akustische Signale ist das System der Signalmerkmale ein Leitfaden für eine Signalsprache, der nach der Dringlichkeit eingestufte Mitteilungskategorien zugrunde liegen. Einige Merkmale werden für Zwecke festgelegt, die ein sicheres und schnelles Erkennen erfordern. Einige Kategorien erlauben gute Abweichmöglichkeiten, z. B. Kontroll- und Warnsignale an Arbeitsplätzen, an denen die Signalisierung für Personal mit spezieller Ausbildung vorgesehen ist.
Für optische Signale werden die festgelegten Bedeutungen der Sicherheitsfarben von dieser Europäischen Norm nicht berührt. Für andere Erfordernisse sind den Signalen durch Zeitverläufe ergänzende Bedeutungen zugeordnet worden, in sehr wenigen Fällen auch durch wechselnde Farben.

Sécurité des machines - Système de signaux auditifs et visuels de danger et d'information

Pour réduire les risques associés à la fausse interprétation de signaux de danger visuels ou auditifs, un système
de signaux de danger et d’information est spécifié en tenant compte des différents degrés d'urgence.
La présente norme européenne est applicable à tous signaux de danger et d’information qui doivent être
clairement perçus et différenciés, ainsi que cela est prescrit en 5.3 de l'EN 292-2:1991, par les autres exigences ou
par la situation de travail, et à tous les degrés d'urgence — depuis une extrême urgence jusqu'à une situation
«FIN D'ALARME». Là où des signaux visuels doivent être utilisés en complément de signaux auditifs, les
caractères sont indiqués pour les deux.
La présente norme européenne n’est pas applicable à certains domaines couverts par des normes spécifiques ou
d'autres conventions en vigueur (internationales ou nationales) ; en particulier, les alarmes d'incendie, les alarmes
médicales, les alarmes utilisées dans le domaine des transports en commun, les signaux de navigation et les
signaux pour des domaines d'activité particuliers (par exemple, militaires). Lorsque de nouveaux signaux sont
envisagés, cependant, la présente norme européenne devrait être prise en considération afin d'éviter des
incohérences.
Pour les signaux auditifs, le système de caractères des signaux constitue une indication pour un langage de
signaux basé sur certaines catégories de message qui sont classées selon l'urgence. Les caractères spécifiés sont
recommandés pour des objectifs qui exigent une reconnaissance sûre et rapide. Certaines catégories permettent
de grandes possibilités de variantes, par exemple pour les signaux de commande et d'alarme sur les lieux
de travail lorsque la signalisation est destinée à un personnel ayant une formation spécifique.
Pour les signaux visuels, les significations établies des «couleurs de sécurité» ne sont pas concernées par la
présente norme européenne.

Varnost strojev - Sistem slišnih in vidnih nevarnostnih ali obvestilnih signalov

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 23-Sep-2008
• Withdrawal Date: 27-Dec-2009
• ICS: 13.110 - Safety of machinery
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 122 - Ergonomics
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 122/WG 11 - Ergonomics of the Physical Environment
• Current Stage: 9093 - Decision to confirm - Review Enquiry
• Completion Date: 20-Sep-2022
• Directive: 2006/42/EC - Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast)
• Directive: 98/37/EC - Machinery
• Mandate: M/079 - Mandate to CEN and CENELEC for standardization in the field of machines
• Mandate: M/396 - Mandate to CEN and Cenelec for standardisation in the field of machinery
• Ref Project: SIST EN 981:1998+A1:2008 - Safety of machinery - System of auditory and visual danger and information signals

Relations

• Merged From: EN 981:1996 - Safety of machinery - System of auditory and visual danger and information signals
• Effective Date: 22-Dec-2008

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-december-2008
Varnost strojev - Sistem slišnih in vidnih nevarnostnih ali obvestilnih signalov
Safety of machinery - System of auditory and visual danger and information signals
Sicherheit von Maschinen - System akustischer und optischer Gefahrensignale und
Informationssignale
Sécurité des machines - Système de signaux auditifs et visuels de danger et
d'information
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 981:1996+A1:2008
ICS:
13.110 Varnost strojev Safety of machinery
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD
EN 981:1996+A1
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
September 2008
ICS 13.110 Supersedes EN 981:1996
English Version
Safety of machinery - System of auditory and visual danger and
information signals
Sécurité des machines - Système de signaux auditifs et Sicherheit von Maschinen - System akustischer und
visuels de danger et d'information optischer Gefahrensignale und Informationssignale
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 21 October 1996 and includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 14 August 2008.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the CEN Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN Management Centre has the same status as the
official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36  B-1050 Brussels
© 2008 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 981:1996+A1:2008: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
Foreword.3
1 Scope .3
2 Normative references .4
3 Definitions .4
4 Ergonomic principles for the design and application of auditory and visual signals.5
4.1 General.5
4.2 Principles for distinctive characters.5
4.3 Qualities of auditory signals.6
4.4 Qualities of visual signals.6
5 System of auditory and visual signals .6
5.1 Scheme of purposes and character.6
5.2 Scheme of auditory signal character.6
5.3 Scheme of visual signal colours.6
6 Testing .7
Table 1 — Signals for general purposes, listed after degree of urgency .8
Table 2 — Character of signals for public alarm .9
Table 3 — Scheme for character of auditory signals.10
Table 4 — Scheme for colours of visual signals .11
Annex ZA (informative) !!!!Relationship between this European Standard and the Essential
Requirements of EU Directive 98/37/EC, amended by 98/79/EC"""" .12
Table ZA.5 — Correspondence between this European Standard and Directive 98/37/EC,
amended by 98/79/EC.12
Annex ZB (informative) !!!!Relationship between this European Standard and the Essential
Requirements of EU Directive 2006/42/EC"""".13
Table ZB.1 — Correspondence between this European Standard and Directive 2006/42/EC .13

Foreword
This document (EN 981:1996+A1:2008) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 122
“Ergonomics”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
text or by endorsement, at the latest by March 2009, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at
the latest by December 2009.
This document includes Amendment 1, approved by CEN on 2008-08-14.
This document supersedes EN 981:1996.
The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags ! ".
This European Standard has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission
and the European Free Trade Association, and supports essential requirements of EU Directive(s).
!For relationship with EU Directive(s), see informative Annexes ZA and ZB, which are integral parts of this
document."
On the international level the International Standard ISO 11429 "Ergonomics – System of auditory and visual
danger and information signals" has been prepared by WG 3 "Danger signals and speech communication in
noisy environments" of ISO/TC 159/SC 5 "Ergonomics of the physical environment". The technical content of
both the European Standard !EN 981" and the International Standard ISO 11429 is identical, with the
exception of the emergency evacuation signal which is not dealt with in this European standard, however the
limits of applicability of the standards to other technical fields are different.
Due to the different limits of applicability still existing on the European and international level direct
transformation of the International Standard into a European Standard is not possible. The reason is that EN
981 has been prepared in order to fulfil the essential safety and health requirements of annex I of the Council
Directive 89/392/EEC of 14 June 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to
machinery: Essential health and safety requirements relating to the design and construction of machinery (see
Annex A of EN 292-2:1991/A1:1995) and that therefore the limits of applicability of the European Standard is
restricted to this Directive.
According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
1 Scope
To reduce risks associated with misinterpretation of visual and auditory danger signals, a system of danger
and information signals is specified taking into account the different degrees of urgency.
This European Standard is applicable to all danger and information signals which have to be clearly perceived
and differentiated as specified in 5.3 of EN 292-2:1991, by other requirements or by the work situation, and to
all degrees of urgency – from extreme urgency to an ALL CLEAR situation. Where visual signals are to be
complementary to sound signals, the signal character is specified for both.
This European Standard does not apply to certain fields covered by specific standards or other conventions in
force (international or national); in particular, fire alarms, medical alarms, alarms used in the field of public
transport, navigation signals and signals for special fields of activity (for example, military). When new signals
are being planned, however, this European Standard should be considered in order to avoid inconsistency.
For auditory signals, the system of signal character is a guideline for a signal language based on message
categories which are classified according to urgency. Certain characters are specified for purposes which
require safe and rapid recognition. Certain categories allow possibilities for variants, e.g. control and warning
signals at workplaces where the signalling is intended for personnel with specific training.
For visual signals, the established meanings of the safety colours are not affected by this European Standard.
For different needs, complementary meanings have been assigned to the signals by timed patterns, and in a
very few cases by alternating colours.
2 Normative references
This European Standard incorporates by dated or undated reference, provisions from other publications.
These normative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text and the publications are listed
hereafter. For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these publications apply to
this European Standard only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision. For undated references the
latest edition of the publication referred to applies.
EN 292-2:1991/A1:1995, Safety of machinery – Basic concepts, general principles for design – Part 2:
Technical principles and specifications.
EN 457:1992, Safety of machinery – Auditory danger signals – General requirements, design and testing (ISO
7731:1986 modified).
EN 842:1996, Safety of machinery – Visual danger signals – General requirements, design and testing.
EN 60073, Coding of indicating devices and actuators by colours and supplementary means (IEC 73:1991).
ISO 8995, Principles of visual ergonomics – The lighting of indoor work systems.
ISO 9921-1, Ergonomic assessment of speech communication – Part 1: Speech interference level and
communication distances for persons with normal hearing capacity in direct communication (SIL method).
3 Definitions
For the purposes of this standard the following definitions apply:
3.1
alternating sound [light]
shifts between two or three acoustical [optical] spectra, with equal duration of the segments, at least 0,15 s
each
3.2
bursts of sound
normally recurrent group of sound pulses with short but distinct interruptions, the pulse period, including
interruption, being between 0,25 s and 0,125 s
3.3
character of a signal
combination of one or more auditory or visual components differentiating one signal from another
3.4
flash
light of duration less than 0,5 s.
3.5
quick-pulse
sound of duration less than 0,5 s.
3.6
segment
one of a number of parts in a sound or light signal during which the signal character is constant
3.7
spectrum of sound [light]
intensity or sound pressure level of sound [light] represented as function of frequency or wavelength
3.8
sweeping [sound]
continuously or discretely varying frequency
4 Ergonomic principles for the design and application of auditory and visual
signals
4.1 General
4.1.1 Auditory and visual signals shall be rapidly recognizable under all environmental conditions anticipated
for their use. The recognition of a signal depends on many physical and psychophysical characteristics.
To ensure that signal effectiveness is not compromised by lack of reliability of signals, false alarm should be
minimized or eliminated.
Signals shall be effective under all conditions of use, including conditions of environmental disturbance of the
recognition process and in situations involving the highest degree of importance and urgency for action. Signal
intensity shall be in accordance with EN 457 and EN 842.
4.1.2 The risk of panic caused by signalling is to be considered, but should not be overestimated. In
principle, two steps of panic reaction can be apparent:
The first sound impulse or flash of light can generate unintended fright. To avoid this shock-effect, the initial
intensity of the sound should not be too high but should increase during the duration of the signal.
The sudden question: "What is happening?" can generate feelings of uncertainty and panic. Therefore, regular
information is most essential.
4.2 Principles for distinctive characters
The primary requirement for a signal is some kind of typical pattern, which makes the signal message
unambiguous and ensures recognition under different difficult environmental conditions. The necessary
variations can be produced in several ways, but are basically achieved by variation in intensity or in spectrum
of light or sound.
Although there is an analogy between the spectrum of light and sound, there are limitations to how this
analogy can
...