In Human Machine Interface (HMI) environments, safety measures are required in various situations to prevent inadvertent machine startup. Even though a production system can be highly automated, there may still be cases where operators need to enter hazardous areas, and safety measures corresponding to risk levels must be provided. These measures ensure protection for the worker in the event that a human error causes a machine to start unexpectedly.

Operator safety can be enhanced by use of padlocks, effective with an emergency stop device, which is a human interface for transmitting a stop command to the machine and is a complementary protective measure of the three-step method of safety measures. The emergency stop switch used in an emergency stop device is subject to strict construction requirements under the international safety standards ISO 13850 and IEC 60947-5-5. This is because the E-stop device is the last means available for ensuring the safety of the operator and when activated, it must be able to reliably transmit the stop command to machinery in any situation.

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