Definition
What is actually an emergency stop and emergency halt?

Source: konstruktionspraxis | Translated by AI 6 min Reading Time

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Anyone searching for the term "emergency stop" will often also find the term "emergency halt". Both sound similar but describe two fundamentally different safety concepts. What exactly is meant by emergency stop and emergency halt? What are the differences? What standards underlie these safety devices?

In order for machines and systems to be immediately stopped in case of hazardous movements and processes, they must be equipped with a conspicuously marked emergency halt command device.(Image: freely licensed /  Pixabay)
In order for machines and systems to be immediately stopped in case of hazardous movements and processes, they must be equipped with a conspicuously marked emergency halt command device.
(Image: freely licensed / Pixabay)

Machines and plants must be immediately stopped in the event of hazardous movements and processes. According to the Machinery Directive, they therefore must be equipped with an emergency stop command device that is conspicuously marked. While the old Machinery Directive used the term "emergency stop" and demanded that machines be equipped with one or more emergency command devices to avoid imminent dangerous situations, the current Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) no longer mentions "emergency stop".