GRIP Guarding Robot Interaction Performance – Your systematic robot RI&E tool

GRIP (Guarding Robot Interaction Performance) is a RI&E specifically focused on human–machine interaction and various requirements from the Machinery Regulation and occupational health and safety legislation. Through a structured questionnaire, different aspects of safety risks and control measures are systematically assessed. This includes technical factors, the human factor, and the environmental factor. It also considers conditions or factors that reduce or negate the effectiveness of a barrier (control measure), known as escalation factors.

Safety risks in the workplace are evolving due to technological developments and changes in the labor market. Robotics, AI (artificial intelligence), and machine learning (ML) can, on the one hand, help identify and prevent risks, but on the other hand, they also introduce new safety risks themselves. To ensure occupational safety (and machine safety in particular), these risks must be identified and mitigated as much as possible. GRIP is a tool specifically developed for this purpose.

Intake

Before you start the robot RI&E, you will be asked a number of introductory questions. These specifically address topics such as the type of robot the RI&E applies to, the firmware/software version, the number of robots deployed, specific characteristics of the work environment in which the robot operates, the purpose for which the robot is used, as well as which employees will work with it and the extent of (potential) interaction between the employee and the robot.

GRIP BowTie

GRIP has been developed based on the BowTie method. This is a qualitative method for risk analysis and is based on scenario thinking. Using a digital visualization (a BowTie diagram), it provides at a glance insight into the threats and control measures that apply to the robot/cobot application within your organization. This insight is built through a semi-structured set of questions that systematically identifies hazards, control measures, and escalation factors. At the center of the BowTie is the undesired event that occurs when a hazard arises from a threat, for example, when an employee enters the robot’s path or when the robot deviates from its path. The potential consequence is that contact occurs between the human and the robot (a collision).

Because our method provides visual support for the robot RI&E, it serves as an excellent tool to facilitate the risk dialogue within your organization with employees and managers. While you complete the questionnaire, the responses are simultaneously visualized in a BowTie model.

Once the inventory has been completed, you will be asked to perform a risk assessment. You have the following options: the Pilz Hazard Rating System, the Hazard Rating Number (HRN) or the Kinney & Wiruth method. In this way, our methodology complies with the common practice and the requirement according to ISO 12100 that a risk estimation is carried out both before and after control measures have been defined (see 5.6.1 of ISO 12100). The outcome of the risk assessment provides both a risk score and a color coding per consequence in the BowTie. The following color coding is applied:

• low risk (green)
• medium-high risk (orange)
• high risk (red)

You will then be asked a number of questions about so-called escalation factors. These questions provide insight into whether there are specific conditions or factors within your organization that may reduce the effectiveness of the implemented control measures. Finally, at the end of GRIP, you will be asked a number of additional questions aimed at assessing your compliance with the Machinery Regulation and occupational health and safety legislation for the specific robot application. We refer to this as the compliance check.

Risk inventory for robots and cobots

The use of intelligent technologies such as robots and cobots (collaborative robots) introduces new safety risks.  Already before the purchase and implementation of robots and cobots, a proper risk inventory and evaluation of human–machine interactions is important:

GRIP is based on clear, evidence-based guidelines and requirements for safe Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) and therefore goes beyond the recent requirements of the Machinery Regulation in this area. It provides a tailored approach for the specific company context and focuses on the robot, the human, and the environment. GRIP is data-driven.

Advantages GRIP