Functional Safety: A Critical Design Pillar for Machine Builders and Component Suppliers

As machinery and control systems grow more complex, functional safety has become a cornerstone of modern mobile machine designs, especially in remote control applications. For machine builders and their component suppliers — including hydraulics, pneumatics and other technology developers — it’s not just about compliance, it’s about building trust, reliability, and long-term value into every system.

Functional safety ensures that machinery responds safely to inputs even in the event of hardware failures, software bugs, or environmental disruptions. It’s the layer of protection that prevents accidents, safeguards operators, and ensures machines perform safely under all conditions.

For machine builders (also referred to as original equipment manufacturers [OEM]), this translates into smoother certifications and a stronger reputation for reliability.

Why Functional Safety Matters

In industries like construction, forestry, and logistics, machines such as cranes, grinders, and excavators operate near people and property. Therefore a malfunction that occurs with one of these machines or their various systems can be catastrophic.

A construction worker remotely controlling machinery from a safe distance — Remote control can provide safer, more efficient workflows in construction and other applications. Incorporation of functional safety into remote control products assures they work as desired at all times to assure safe operations.

Remote control systems have revolutionized how operators interact with these machines, enabling safer, more efficient workflows by allowing the operator to move freely for optimal overview of the operations. But there may also occur new risks: signal loss, interference, or component failure that could potentially lead to unintended movements. That’s where functional safety becomes essential.

“Safety is an umbrella term,” said Andreas Lång, Manager Systems Engineering at Scanreco, a supplier of remote control solutions to OEMs. “It includes all sorts of safety. For us at Scanreco, for example, functional, electrical, and mechanical safety are all very important. In machinery, we talk about ‘machinery safety’ — a holistic view that includes all safety aspects of a machine, and where our systems are one component.”

Read "NFPA Introduces Functional Safety White Paper" to learn more about how the National Fluid Power Association is working to educate the hydraulics and pneumatics industry on the importance of and design considerations for functional safety.

A Rigid Framework for Designing Safety-Related Control Systems

International standards such as ISO 13849 (Performance Level or PL) and IEC 62061 (Safety Integrity Level or SIL) provide the framework for designing electronic products, such as control systems. These standards guide manufacturers in implementing fail-safes, redundancies, and automatic shutdowns, critical features in high-risk environments.

PL expresses the probability of a dangerous failure per hour of a safety function and includes grades from PL a to PL e (highest level). Meanwhile, SIL quantifies the probability of dangerous failures and grades from SIL 1 to SIL 4.

Although SIL can be translated to PL (for example SIL 3 to PL e) PL cannot be translated into SIL. The two standards are based on different methodologies, assumptions and calculations.

Learn how functional safety and other design trends are bringing a need for use of new communication protocols in the article "The Changing Landscape of Communication Protocols for Fluid Power Systems."

A close up view of a remote control transmitter — Integration of functional safety into components such as radio remote control transmitters helps to ensure the safe operation of systems and machines.

Safety Standards are Shaping Mobile Equipment Designs

Aiming for a high level of functional safety is essential for OEMs to protect operators, ensure compliance, and build reliable machines. As such, they look to partner with suppliers whose components and systems also offer a high level of safety.

A system designed to meet stringent safety standards minimizes the risk of dangerous failures, even in harsh or high-risk environments. These safeguard property and human life, help OEMs meet regulatory requirements for their applications and strengthen their reputation for quality and safety.

"Many of our products are rated with PL e and SIL 3, which are among the highest levels of functional safety in our business," said Lång. "Some of our platforms even combine both, such as the G6 platform that also has increased safety due to completely separate architectures for functional safety and normal application. We call it SISP, which stands for Scanreco Integrated Safety Platform."

For OEMs that need to adapt a remote control system and tailor safety functions to different machine types or operating environments, having separate architectures for functional safety and normal application like SISP does is very valuable as it minimizes the risk for unintended instrusion on safety.

As machine builders look to the future, functional safety will remain a critical design pillar. It’s not just about meeting today’s standards — it’s about anticipating tomorrow’s challenges. And as machines become more advanced and connected, functional safety will remain a critical foundation for both operational reliability and long-term competitiveness.

This article was written and contributed by Scanreco.