Revised ANSI B11.3-2012 Standard for Machine Safety Requirements for Power Press Brakes

The B11 standards for machine tools were first approved beginning with safety requirements for power presses in 1922. Since that time, safety requirements for a variety of machine tools have been developed and continually updated and revised to become a series of some 30 B11 standards and technical reports.

Organization and Application of B11 Series of Documents
The B11 series of documents can be associated with the ISO “Type A-B-C” structure as described below:

• Type-A standards (basis standards) give basic concepts, principles for design, and general aspects that can be applied to machinery;
• Type-B standards (generic safety standards) deal with one or more safety aspects or one or more types of safeguards that can be used across a wide range of machinery;
• Type-C standards (machinery safety standards) deal with detailed safety requirements for a particular machine or group of machines.

This ANSI B11.3 standard on power press brakes is a “Type-C” standard. The ANSI B11.0 standard on general safety requirements common to ANSI B11 machines is primarily a “Type-A” standard in that it applies to a broad array of machines and contains very general requirements.

However, in many areas it also contains very specific requirements. B11.19, B11.20 and the B11 series Technical Reports are all typical “Type-B” documents addressing general safety elements that can be applied across a wide range of machinery (B11.19) or as a standard when combining machines (B11.20). The B11 series of Technical Reports are informative documents that may be generally applied to many machines and as such would fall into the “Type-B” group.

The machine-specific (Type-C) B11 standards contain detailed safety requirements for a particular machine or group of machines, such as in the case of this standard. The B11.0 and the machine-specific B11 standards are intended to be used concurrently by the supplier and user of machines.

When a Type-C standard deviates from one or more provisions dealt with by this standard or by a Type-B standard, the Type-C standard requirement generally takes precedence. Any deviation in conforming to a requirement of any standard should be carefully evaluated and based on a documented risk assessment.

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