Glossary · Guards and machine motion
Perimeter guard
Also known as: perimeter fencing
In machine safety, a perimeter guard is a barrier that prevents or limits access to a hazardous area around machinery, typically a fence enclosing a robot cell or an integrated production line.
- Machine safety
- Risk assessment
In one sentence
A perimeter guard fences off the hazardous area around a machine or cell; access points, height and floor gaps decide whether it really keeps people out.
Example
A 2-meter mesh fence encloses a welding robot cell, with an interlocked access door for maintenance and a light curtain at the material infeed.
How it applies
- Machine safety: A perimeter guard is only as good as its weakest point: the height and distance from the hazard must prevent reaching over it (reach distance), the gap at the floor must prevent crawling under, and every access point needs its own safeguard, such as an interlocking guard.
- Integrated systems: In lines with several machines, the fence often defines the boundary of a safety zone. Make sure the zone concept, the fence and the stop logic match.
- Human factors: A person could be inside the fence when the machine is restarted. Consider presence detection inside the area and a reset from a point with a full view of the area.
- Technical documentation: Show the fence line, access points and their safeguards in the layout drawing and in the operating manual.