The EN 61010-1 standard specifies general safety rules applicable to all equipment covered within its scope. For certain types of equipment, however, one or more of the specific rules in EN 61010-2, which must be read in conjunction with EN 61010-1, may be added to or replace the rules in EN 61010-1.

The EN 61010-1 standard establishes general safety rules for the following types of electrical equipment and their accessories (where their use is intended):

a) Electrical testing and measuring equipment

Electrical testing and measuring equipment refers to equipment used to subject, measure, display, or record one or more electrical or physical quantities through electromagnetic processes, as well as non-measuring equipment like signal generators, measuring standards, power supplies used in laboratories, converters, transmitters, etc.

Note 1 – EN 61010-1 includes power supplies on desks intended to assist in testing and measuring other equipment. Power supplies for power equipment are included under the scope of IEC 61558 (see Clause 1.1.2 h).

The EN 61010-1 standard also applies to test equipment intended for testing components integrated with manufacturing processes.

Note 2 – Test equipment used during the manufacturing process is typically connected to industrial machines or placed near them.

b) Electrical industrial process-control equipment

Electrical industrial process-control equipment controls one or more output variables based on one or more input variables, either manually adjusted, locally or remotely programmed, or determined by specific values.

c) Electrical laboratory equipment

Electrical laboratory equipment includes equipment used to measure, display, view, examine, or analyze materials, or equipment used to prepare materials, including equipment used for in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) purposes.

EN 61010-1 equipment may also be used outside laboratories. Examples include automatic IVD equipment used in homes or inspection equipment used for controlling persons or materials during transport.

The purpose of the rules specified in the EN 61010-1 standard is to reduce the risks to an acceptable level for both operators and the surrounding area.

Rules for protection against specific types of hazards are provided in Clauses 6 to 13 of EN 61010-1:

a) Electric shock or burns (refer to Clause 6),

b) Mechanical hazards (refer to Clauses 7 and 8),

c) Fire hazards from equipment (refer to Clause 9),

d) Excessive temperature (refer to Clause 10),

e) Effects of fluids and liquid pressure (refer to Clause 11),

f) Radiation effects, including laser, sound, and ultrasonic pressure (refer to Clause 12),

g) Gaseous emissions, explosions, and collapse (refer to Clause 13).

Protection against hazards resulting from reasonably foreseeable misuse and ergonomic factors are specified in Clause 16.

For hazards or environments not fully covered by the above, a risk assessment is provided in Clause 17.

Note – Attention is drawn to the existence of additional rules concerning workforce health and safety.

Tests in EN 61010-1 are type tests that must be carried out on samples of equipment or equipment components. The purpose of these tests is to check that the design and construction comply with the EN 61010-1 standard. Additionally, manufacturers must perform routine tests on 100% of equipment produced with hazardous voltage sections and accessible conductive parts, as specified in Annex F.

The equipment must meet at least the requirements of the EN 61010-1 standard. Exceeding the specified limits is allowed. If a lower limit for a conformity value is specified in EN 61010-1, the equipment may show a value greater than the lower limit. If an upper limit is specified, the equipment may show a value smaller than the upper limit.

The tests specified in EN 61010-1, conducted on relevant equipment under applicable standards, do not need to be repeated for the entire equipment during type testing if the tests have been performed on subgroups meeting the relevant standards.

Compliance with EN 61010-1 is verified by performing all applicable tests. However, the test may be omitted if an inspection of the equipment and its design documentation demonstrates that the equipment has passed the test. Tests are conducted under reference conditions (refer to Clause 4.3) and under fault conditions (refer to Clause 4.4).

When a conformity declaration is required under EN 61010-1, it may involve an inspection of the equipment's measurements, the markings on the equipment, the instructions provided with the equipment, or the data sheets of the materials or components used to manufacture the equipment, etc. In any case, the inspection must demonstrate that the equipment complies with applicable rules, or additional tests must be performed.

If there is any uncertainty regarding the actual value of a parameter (e.g., voltage) due to tolerance during a conformity test:

a) The manufacturer must guarantee that at least the specified test value was applied,

b) The testing laboratories must guarantee that no other value than the specified test value was applied.