{"id":41895,"date":"2023-08-10T16:02:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T15:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/?post_type=approfondimento&#038;p=41895"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:39:59","slug":"contactors-used-in-safety-applications","status":"publish","type":"approfondimento","link":"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/en\/insights\/electrical-hazard-and-arc-flash-mitigation\/contactors-used-in-safety-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"Contactors used in Safety Applications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n    \n        <section\n            data-name=\"Contenuto testuale con immagine\"\n            class=\"bow-gte-testo-media u-spacer-base\"\n            id=\"\"\n        >\n            \n<div class=\"o-text-media px-side-spacer sm:px-side-spacer-sm lg:px-side-spacer-tablet 2xl:px-side-spacer-desktop flex flex-wrap items-start md:block\">\n\n    \n        \n                    <div\n                class=\"h-auto mb-6 md:mb-4 lg:mb-8 xl:mb-9 float-left mr-6 md:mr-4 lg:mr-8 xl:mr-9  overflow-hidden shadow-content-image w-full md:w-1\/3\"\n            >\n                \r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                    <picture\r\n                        class=\"\"\r\n                                            >\r\n                                                                                                        <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 150px)\"\r\n                                width=\"150\"\r\n                                height=\"150\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Capture-1-7-150x150.png.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                                <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 239px)\"\r\n                                width=\"239\"\r\n                                height=\"300\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Capture-1-7-239x300.png.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                                <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 589px)\"\r\n                                width=\"589\"\r\n                                height=\"738\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Capture-1-7.png.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                                <source\r\n                                media=\"(max-width: 589px)\"\r\n                                width=\"589\"\r\n                                height=\"738\"\r\n                                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Capture-1-7.png.webp\"\r\n                                type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                            \/>\r\n                                                                            <img\r\n                            class=\"a-image transparent border-image h-auto  w-full\"\r\n                                                        srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Capture-1-7.png.webp\"\r\n                                                        title=\"Capture 1\"\r\n                                                        type=\"image\/webp\"\r\n                        \/>\r\n                    <\/picture>\r\n\r\n                \r\n\r\n                    \r\n    \r\n            <\/div>\n        \n                    <div class=\"relative w-full\">\n                \n<div class=\"a-text font-text text-base normal mt-8 first:mt-0 space-y-4\">\n    <p>There are three types of contactors used in Safety-related control Systems:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Power Contactors<\/strong>: they have auxiliary <strong>Mirror contacts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Auxiliary Contactors, also called Relays<\/strong>: they have auxiliary <strong>Positively Driven contacts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Electromechanical elementary relays<\/strong>: among which there are relays with <strong>Forcibly Guided<\/strong> (mechanically linked) contacts. They are designed according to the IEC 61810-3 [35].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>All three types can be used in a Safety-related control circuit, <strong>provided they are declared in compliace with their product standards<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Power Contactors:<strong> IEC 60947-4-1:<\/strong> <em>Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear \u2013 Part 4-1: Contactors and motor-starters \u2013 Electromechanical contactors and motor-starters<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Auxiliary Contactors: <strong>IEC 60947-5-1:<\/strong> <em>Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear \u2013 Part 5-1: Control circuit devices and switching elements \u2013 Electromechanical control circuit devices.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Electromechanical elementary relays: <strong>IEC 61810-3:<\/strong> <em>Electromechanical elementary relays &#8211; Part 3: Relays with forcibly guided (mechanically linked) contacts.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That declaration can be made by the component manufacturer and it does not require any third party certification, like it happens for components used in Low demand mode of operation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The reliability parameter<\/strong> used for contctors is defined as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/en\/pubblications\/in-depth-articles-tuttomisure\/p1-reliability-data-for-components-used-in-safety-systems\/\"><strong>B<sub>10<\/sub> or B<\/strong><\/a><sub><strong>10D<\/strong>\u00a0<\/sub>and its value is normally provided by the componet manufacturer. In case the value is not availbale, the machinery manufacturer can refer to <strong>Annex C<\/strong> of ISO 13849-1 or IEC 62061.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The values found in the Annex can be used provided the following conditions are met:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The components are manufactured according <strong>to basic and well-tried safety principles<\/strong> in accordance with ISO 13849-2:2012 and the relevant standard (see Table C.1) for the design of the component. That information can normally be found in the data sheet of the component manufacturer.<\/li>\n<li>The manufacturer of the component specifies <strong>the appropriate application and operating conditions<\/strong> for the SCS or SRP\/CS designer.<\/li>\n<li>The design of the SCS or SRP\/CS fulfils the basic and well-tried safety principles according to ISO 13849-2:2012, for the implementation and operation of the component.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Attention<\/strong> should be paid to the Electromechanical Relays: since the new edition of ISO 13849-1 (2023), those components can be used in Safety-related control circuits <strong>only if they are in compliance with IEC 61810-3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, please be aware that <strong>there is no product standard for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gt-engineering.it\/en\/insights\/functional-safety-300321\/i-contattori-di-sicurezza-e-il-loro-utilizzo\/\">Safety Contactors<\/a><\/strong>. In other words, if a supplier wants to sell you a Safety Contactor he is just selling you <strong>a normal Power Contactor,<\/strong> that is not possible to operate manually, and&#8230; painted in a &#8220;Nice Safety Colour&#8221; like yellow or Red.<\/p>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n        \n        \n                <div class=\"clear-both\"><\/div>\n        \n\n    <\/div>\n        <\/section>\n\n    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are three types of contactors used in Safety-related control Systems:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":41896,"parent":0,"menu_order":27,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tipologia_approfondimento":[51],"class_list":["post-41895","approfondimento","type-approfondimento","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tipologia_approfondimento-electrical-hazard-and-arc-flash-mitigation"],"acf":{"sottotitolo":"","allegati":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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