ANSI B11 Standards (Safety of Machinery)

Machines might not make the world go round, but they definitely help us out on its surface. Unfortunately—even before pulley systems supported the construction of megaliths in Ancient Egypt—machines have had inherent risks. In fact, there were 14,625 occupational fatalities involving machinery from 1992 to 2010.

Safeguarding machinery is essential, so the ANSI B11 series of American National Standards provides engineers, manufacturers, and personnel with the safety of machinery.

What is a Machine?

As defined in ANSI B11.0-2020: Safety Of Machinery, a machine is:

“An assembly of linked parts or components (at least one of which moves) with the appropriate actuators, control and power circuits, etc., that are joined together for a specific application such as, for the processing, treatment, marking, or moving of material.”

How ANSI B11 Standards Addresses Machinery Risks

This definition encompasses a vast range. Therefore, the ANSI B11 standards address a multitude of workplace machinery with the goal of minimizing the risks of potential machinery-related hazards. This is accomplished through appropriate machine design, restricting personnel access to hazard zones, and devising procedures that minimize personnel exposure to hazardous situations.

Zero risk does not exist. With this in mind, since the first B11 standard was approved with safety requirements for power presses in 1922, these standards, administered by the ANSI-accredited standards developing organization B11 Standards, Inc, have helped professionals reach an acceptable level of machinery-related risk.

ISO Type ABC Machinery

Essential to understanding the ANSI B11 standards is the ISO type A-B-C structure established in ANSI/ISO 12100:2012 (if you’d like to learn the difference between this and the safety of machinery American National Standard, please refer to our post ANSI B11.0-2020: Safety of Machinery). These types delineate machinery safety standards into the following:

Type A standards are basic safety standards, meaning they give concepts, design principles, and general aspects applicable to machinery.

Type B standards are considered generic safety standards, as they deal with one aspect of safety or one safeguard applicable across a range of machinery.

Type C standards are machine safety standards, and they, taking a narrower focus, detail safety guidelines for a particular machine or group of machinery.

You can learn more about these classifications in out post on the ISO Type A-B-C Structure.

All ANSI B11 Standards

In total, there are 26 ANSI B11 standards (please note that ANSI B11.14 was withdrawn, and its requirements are now contained in part 18), and 6 technical reports (which are not American National Standards). All these documents are listed below.

Type A Standards (Basic Machine Safety)

ANSI B11.0-2020: Safety Of Machinery (learn more in our post on the standard)

Type C Standards (Machine Safety)

ANSI B11.1-2009 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Mechanical Power Presses

ANSI B11.2-2013 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Hydraulic And Pneumatic Presses

ANSI B11.3-2022: Safety Requirements For Power Press Brakes

ANSI B11.4-2003 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Shears

ANSI B11.5-1988 (R2020): Machines – Ironworkers -Safety Requirements For Construction, Care And Use

ANSI B11.6-2022: Safety Requirements For Manual Turning Machines With Or Without Auto Control

ANSI B11.7-2020: Cold Headers And Cold Formers – Safety Requirements For Construction, Care, And Use

ANSI B11.8-2021: Safety Requirements For Manual Milling, Drilling, & Boring Machines With Or Without Automatic Control

ANSI B11.9-2010 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Grinding Machines

ANSI B11.10-2003 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Metal Sawing Machines

ANSI B11.11-2001 (R2012): Safety Requirements For Gear And Spline Cutting Machines

ANSI B11.12-2005 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Roll Forming & Roll Bending Machines

ANSI B11.13-2020: Machine Tools – Safety Requirements For Single-Spindle Or Multiple-Spindle Automatic Bar And Chucking Machines

ANSI B11.15-2022: Safety Requirements For Pipe, Tube And Shape Bending Machines

ANSI B11.16-2014 (R2020): Machine Tools – Safety Requirements For Powder/Metal Compacting Presses (MPIF #47)

ANSI B11.17-2004 (R2015): Safety Requirements For Horizontal Hydraulic Extrusion Presses

ANSI B11.18-2006 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Machines Processing Or Slitting Coiled Or Non-Coiled Metal

ANSI B11.21-2006 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Machine Tools Using Lasers For Processing Materials

ANSI B11.22-2002 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Turning Centers And Automatic Numerically Controlled Turning Machines

ANSI B11.23-2002 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Machining Centers And Automatic Numerically Controlled Milling, Drilling And Boring Machines

ANSI B11.24-2002 (R2020): Safety Requirements For Transfer Machines

ANSI B11.27-2020: Safety Requirements For Electro Discharge Machines

Type B Standards (Generic Safety)

ANSI B11.19-2019: Performance Requirements For Risk Reduction Measures: Safeguarding And Other Means Of Reducing Risk (learn more in our post on the standard)

ANSI B11.20-2017: Safety Requirements For Integrated Manufacturing Systems (learn more in our post on the standard)

ANSI B11.25-2015: Safety Requirements For Large Machines

ANSI B11.26-2018: Machines – Functional Safety For Equipment: General Principles For The Design Of Safety Control Systems Using ISO 13849-1

B11.TR1-2016: Ergonomic Guidelines For The Design, Installation And Use Of Machine Tools

B11.TR2-1997: Mist Control Considerations For The Design, Installation And Use Of Machine Tools Metalworking Fluids

B11.TR4-2004: Selection Of Programmable Electronic Systems (PES/PLC) For Machine Tools

B11.TR5-2006 (R2017): ANSI Technical Report For Machines -Noise Level Measurement Guidelines – A Guide For Measuring, Evaluating, Documenting And Reporting Noise Levels Emitted By Machinery

B11.TR7-2007: Designing For Safety And Lean Manufacturing: A Guide On Integrating Safety And Lean Manufacturing Principles In The Use Of Machinery

Buy All ANSI B11 Standards and Technical Reports at a Discount

All these documents are available together as the ANSI B11 Machine Tools Safety Package—an impressive and useful collection for users of this series of standards, as it comes with over a 50% discount.

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