Hi Folks
This has been a thorny problem for the last 20yrs to my personal
knowledge!
I first encountered it in the late 60's/early 70's with IEC 204 (the
predecessor to EN60204) and with medical equipment for use by the UK
National Health Service.
Over that period, the recommended colours have always been stated in IEC73,
which has now become IEC60073:1996
BASIC AND SAFETY PRINCIPLES FOR MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE, MARKING AND
IDENTIFICATION) .
Originally it dealt only with colours of lights and pushbuttons and used
the traffic light approach, i.e.
- Red = Danger and/or stop now!
- Yellow = Caution, and/or things may be going out of spec.
- Greeen = All normal or OK
However, the latest version of 60073 has been expanded significantly to
cover general rules for assigning particular meanings to certain visual,
acoustic and tactile indications, and irt has the status of a basic safety
publication in accordance with IEC Guide 104 - which is probabaly why it is
not mentioned in EN60950/UL 1950 etc.
Some sectors of business are very picky on colours - notably medical
standards (e.g. IEC 60601) and process industries standards (e.g.EN60204
etc) - because errors in interpretation of warning and caution indicators
can have catastrophic effects!
Others - such as the IT industry in general - seem far less concerned and
are prepared to accept any convenient colours for indicators
However, if you follow IEC 60073 you should - to the best of my knowledge -
have no trouble anywhere (unless something else is called up in contract!)
Regards
John Allen
Product Safety Manager
Racal Radio Ltd.
--
From: Crane, Lauren[SMTP:lcr...@bev.etn.com]
Reply To: Crane, Lauren
Sent: 27 April 1999 18:27
To: 'Allan, James'; 'emc-pstc'
Subject:RE: Colors of indicators
It is not so much that red not be used, but that it not be used for safe,
normal, expected conditions of the equipment.
One example of this is a PREFERENCE stated in EN 60204-1 section 10.3.2.
(It
does allow deviations based on specific agreement with customers.)
I think the underlying thought is that red lights tend to indicate
dangerous
conditions from which an operator should run away or seek help immediately.
I think an old spin on red lights may be that red for power on, for
example,
means this thing is armed and ready to fire, so watch out. However, it
is
expected these days that idle equipment is not hazardous and will not start
up or take actions unexpectedly. Now power on is a normal safe condition
for
equipment (or should be, at least) and so the 'proper' color for power on
lights is green or white.
Other benign equipment states, such as indicators for moving parts being in
a normal, expected location, should be treated similarly.
Red LED's appeared in products alot because they were originally the
cheapest, most available color.
I only have access to UL 1950, but its 1.7.8.2 seems nearly in line with EN
60204-1 in that it allows red indicators provided that it is clear that
safety is not involved.
Lauren Crane
Eaton Corporation.
-Original Message-
From: Allan, James [SMTP:james_al...@milgo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 1999 8:27 AM
To: 'emc-pstc'
Subject: Colors of indicators
Several years ago I remember that indicators could not be red in color.
This
requirement seems to have gone away per EN60950 1.7.8.2. Could the group
provide me with a bit of history as to where the original requirement to
be
not red came from. Was it a part of the German GS mark requirements or
did it have a wider application in Europe than just GS marking? No great
acts hang in the shadow of the answer, just a bit of curiosity.
Jim Allan
Senior Compliance Engineer
Milgo Solutions Inc.
E-mail james_al...@milgo.com
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