New editions of ISO standards help to create safer, more reliable and efficient fluid power systems and can make it easier to sell in the European market

ISO 4413:2010, Hydraulic fluid power -- General rules and safety requirements for systems and their components, and ISO 4414:2010, Pneumatic fluid power -- General rules and safety requirements for systems and their components, were published on 15 November 2010. 

These International Standards deal with all significant hazards, except for noise (which it addressed incompletely), and apply to the design, construction and modification of systems and their components, also taking into account assembly, installation, adjustment, uninterrupted system operation, ease and economy of maintenance and cleaning, reliable operation in all intended uses, energy efficiency and environment.

These new editions replace not only the 1998 editions of the two ISO standards but also EN 982 and EN 983, the European standards on safety requirements for, respectively, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, as the standards to use fulfill the fluid power safety requirements for the European Union's Machinery Safety Directive, which now covers both stationary industrial and mobile machinery. If your customers sell machines in the European Union, they will need to know and apply the requirements of ISO 4413 and 4414 to their fluid power systems.

NFPA has also withdrawn its own system standards (NFPA/T2.24.1 and NFPA/T2.25.1), in favor of using these new editions of ISO 4413 and 4414. The USA played a key role in the development of the ISO standards, particularly in addressing the requirements of mobile machines.

If you would like to learn more about ISO 4413 and 4414 from people who were involved in their development, these standards will be the subject of two papers at the March 2011 National Conference on Fluid Power; for more information about these papers, check the schedule for the NCFP at http://www.ifpe.com/PDF/2011_EducationBrochure.pdf.

NFPA members can purchase these standards at special member prices of $142 for ISO 4413:2010 and $128 for ISO 4414:2010, at NFPA's online store at http://store.nfpa.com.