IEC GUIDE 104:2010

The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications and group safety publications

IEC Guide 104:2010(E) is mandatory and defines procedures for the preparation of safety publications in addition to ISO/IEC Guide 51, including the preparation and use of basic safety publications and group safety publications. Also describes the relationship between TCs with horizontal safety functions or group safety functions and product TCs. In the context of this guide, "safety" relates to the safety of persons, domestic animals, livestock and property. The main changes with respect to the previous edition are as follows:
- updates the third edition, in the light of experience, to align it with IEC Guide 108;
- includes a better description of the group safety function and group safety publications in subclause 5.1.3;
- includes a clarification in Annex A of measures in case of a single fault condition.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 29-Aug-2010
• ICS: 29.020 - Electrical engineering in general
• ICS: 47.020.70 - Navigation and control equipment
• Technical Committee: ACOS - ACOS
• Current Stage: DELPUB - Deleted Publication
• Completion Date: 24-Jul-2019

Relations

• Revised: IEC GUIDE 104:2019 - The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications and group safety publications
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC GUIDE 104 ®
Edition 4.0 2010-08
GUIDE
colour
inside
The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications
and group safety publications
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IEC GUIDE 104 ®
Edition 4.0 2010-08
GUIDE
colour
inside
The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications
and group safety publications
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
R
ICS 29.020 ISBN 978-2-88912-140-3
– 2 – Guide 104 © IEC:2010(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.3

INTRODUCTION.5

1 Scope.6

2 Normative references.6

3 Terms and definitions .6

4 Assignment of horizontal safety functions and of group safety functions .7

5 Safety publications.8

5.1 Basic safety publications and group safety publications.8
5.1.1 General .8
5.1.2 Basic safety publications.8
5.1.3 Group safety publications.8
5.2 Product safety publications .9
5.3 References to other publications.10
5.4 Safety during the life of equipment .10
6 Responsibilities of TCs with horizontal safety functions or group safety functions.10
6.1 Liaison with other TCs .10
6.2 Requests from product TCs for new work.11
7 Responsibilities of product TCs.11
7.1 General .11
7.2 Application of basic safety publications .11
7.3 Application of group safety publications.11
7.4 New work requests to TCs with safety functions .12
Annex A (normative) Safety aspects relating to electrical equipment .13
Annex B (informative) Relationship between different levels within the IEC .18
Bibliography .19

Guide 104 © IEC:2010(E) – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

______________
THE PREPARATION OF SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AND

THE USE OF BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AND

GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATIONS
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This fourth edition of IEC Guide 104 has been prepared, in accordance with ISO/IEC

Directives, Part 1, Annex A, by the IEC Advisory Committee on Safety (ACOS). This guide is a
mandatory guide in accordance with SMB Decision 136/8.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition published in 1997.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are as follows:
1) updates the third edition, in the light of experience, to align it with IEC Guide 108,
Guidelines for ensuring the coherency of IEC publications – Application of horizontal
standards;
2) includes a better description of the group safety function and group safety publications in
subclause 5.1.3;
3) includes a clarification in Annex A of measures in case of a single fault condition;
4) deletes Annexes B and C of the third edition;

– 4 – Guide 104 © IEC:2010(E)
5) stipulates that the reference to technical committees with a basic and/or group safety

function is to be given in the IEC Catalogue or on the IEC Website;

6) replaces the word “should” by “shall” in several places, due to the fact that this Guide 104 is

mandatory.
The text of this IEC Guide is based on the following documents:

Four month’s vote Report on voting

C/1601/DV C/1622/RV
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Guide can be found in the report on voting

indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

Guide 104 © IEC:2010(E) – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
Technical Committees dealing with subjects relating to safety for the whole, or for a specific

part, of their activities, are required by SMB Decision 136/8 to follow the provisions of this

Guide, which is to be used in conjunction with the ISO/IEC Directives and with the Guide listed

under Clause 2.
In this Guide, the term “technical committees”, hereinafter referred to as TCs, also includes

subcommittees. The term “publication” includes “standard”, “technical report”, “technical

specification” and “guide”. In addition, the term “product” includes “process”, “service” and

combinations thereof, commonly known as “systems”.

– 6 – Guide 104 © IEC:2010(E)
THE PREPARATION OF SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AND

THE USE OF BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AND

GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATIONS
1 Scope
This mandatory Guide defines procedures for the preparation of safety publications in addition

to ISO/IEC Guide 51, including the preparation and use of basic safety publications and group
safety publications. It also describes the relationship between TCs with horizontal safety
functions or group safety functions and product TCs.
In the context of this guide, "safety” relates to the safety of persons, domestic animals,
livestock and property.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For
dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of
the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Procedures for the technical work
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards
ISO/lEC Guide 51, Safety aspects – Guidelines for their inclusion in standards
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions of ISO/IEC Guide 51 as well as
the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
basic safety publication
publication on a specific safety-related matter, applicable to many electrotechnical products

3.2
group safety publication
publication covering all safety aspects of a specific group of products within the scope of two or
more product TCs
NOTE Group safety publications are primarily intended to be stand-alone product safety publications, but may also
be used by TCs as source material in the preparation of their publications, as detailed in 7.3.
3.3
product safety publication
publication covering all safety aspects of one or more products within the scope of a single
product TC
3.4
product TC
TC with a scope which covers a specific product or group of products

Guide 104 © IEC:2010(E) – 7 –
3.5
horizontal safety function
task assigned to a TC to prepare one or more basic safety publications

3.6
group safety function
task assigned to a product TC to prepare one or more group safety publications

3.7
normal condition
condition in which all means of protection are intact

3.8
single fault condition
condition in which there is a fault of a single protection (but not a reinforced protection) or of a
single component or a device
NOTE If a single fault condition results in one or more other fault conditions, all are considered as one single fault
conditi
...