Lifting Appliances Safety and Electrical Installation Vocabulary: Essential Standards for Modern Materials Handling

In today’s industrial landscape, lifting appliances and their allied handling systems are at the heart of production, construction, and maintenance activities across every sector. Safety, productivity, and compliance demands are stringent, making international standards more crucial than ever. This article presents an accessible, expert overview of two pivotal standards within Materials Handling: SIST EN 1953:2025 – dealing with the safety of application equipment for coating materials, and SIST IEC 60050-826:2023 – providing key terminology for electrical installations. Whether you're a manufacturer, plant manager, safety professional, or a business leader committed to scaling safely and efficiently, understanding these standards is a must.

Overview / Introduction

Materials handling forms the backbone of industrial productivity, impacting sectors from automotive to food processing, shipyards to modern logistics hubs. At its core, lifting appliances are intricate systems, combining advanced application equipment and precisely engineered electrical installations. Standards serve as the blueprint ensuring these systems are safe, reliable, and fit for purpose.

Why do standards matter? In a world of international trade, compliance, and accountability, standards enforce uniformity, drive innovation, and protect workers. They safeguard against hazards ranging from mechanical ejection of parts to electrical shock, and their adoption is proven to reduce incidents, increase uptime, and enhance operational scalability.

In this guide, you’ll learn about:

• The full scope, structure, and critical requirements of SIST EN 1953:2025 and SIST IEC 60050-826:2023
• How these standards drive productivity, safety, and competitive advantage
• Best practices for implementing these standards in modern organizations
• The real-world impact of compliance on business outcomes

Detailed Standards Coverage

SIST EN 1953:2025 - Application Equipment for Coating Materials - Safety

Application equipment for coating materials – Safety

This comprehensive European standard establishes essential safety requirements for both hand-held and automatic application equipment designed for coating materials. The scope covers equipment such as spray guns, atomizers, and applicators—core tools in automotive painting, machinery fabrication, and protective coatings sectors. It addresses “all significant hazards, hazardous situations and hazardous events” as anticipated by both standard use and reasonably foreseeable misuse.

What This Standard Covers & Its Scope

SIST EN 1953:2025 provides a unified safety framework that protects workers and equipment while supporting productivity:

• Applicability: Concerns any hand-held or automatic device used to apply paints, powders, or flock to surfaces; covers ergonomic design, noise, electrical and explosion hazards.
• Exclusions: Does not apply to very high-pressure devices (pneumatic >15 bar, hydraulic rotating bell/disc >25 bar), extruding or dispensing equipment, airbrushes for artistic work, and certain devices linked to food/pharma products or covered by other standards.
• Relation to Other Standards: Complements EN 50050 series for electrostatic equipment and aligns with machinery and ATEX directives.

Key Requirements & Specifications

The standard drills into the following requirements:

• Mechanical Safety: Devices must be resilient to expected forces, including static/dynamic hydraulic pressure and recoil forces. Specific burst pressure and mechanical strength tests are standardized.
• Pressurized Fluids: Design must prevent hazardous fluid ejection, using return mechanisms and safeguards such as locking triggers or guards on high-pressure equipment.
• Electrical Safety: Applies both general safety and specialized requirements for equipment operating in potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX).
• Temperature & Noise: Prevents burns by limiting surface temperatures, mandates noise reduction at the source, and requires communication about protective gear if needed.
• Explosion Precautions: Strong emphasis on dissipating static electricity, equipment grounding, and preventing ignition sources.
• Ergonomics: Mandates accessible, understandable marking and user information for proper operation and maintenance.

Who Needs to Comply?

• Industrial Coating Lines, automotive and aerospace manufacturers, shipyards, machinery workshops, and any facility using automated paint or powder delivery systems.
• Health and safety regulators, quality assurance professionals, and anyone responsible for equipment procurement and maintenance.

Practical Implications for Implementation

• Safer workplaces and reduced legal exposure: Ensuring equipment meets the latest mechanical, electrical, and explosion prevention specs.
• Simplified training and smoother operations: Ergonomic designs and clear user info make onboarding easier.
• Productivity gains: Fewer accidents and stoppages mean more uptime and less maintenance.

Notable Features

• Clear risk reduction by design (mechanical and electrical)
• Aligned with latest machinery and explosion safety directives
• Practical, testable requirements supporting on-site verification

Key highlights:

• Comprehensive hazard identification (Annex A)
• Mechanical, electrical, and explosion safety by design
• Mandates for clear user information and marking

Access the full standard:View SIST EN 1953:2025 on iTeh Standards

SIST IEC 60050-826:2023 - International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) - Part 826: Electrical Installations

International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) - Part 826: Electrical Installations

Electrical installations are the lifeblood of safe, automated lifting and material handling equipment. Yet terminology can vary by country and industry, potentially leading to miscommunication and risk. SIST IEC 60050-826:2023 addresses this challenge, offering a harmonized set of international definitions covering every aspect of electrical installations found in residential, commercial, and industrial settings.

What This Standard Covers & Its Scope

• Unified Terminology: Provides authoritative definitions for all core concepts in electrical installations—from circuits and voltage types to safety services, operational environments, and fault conditions.
• Applicable Environments: Applies to electrical setups in factories, warehouses, offices, residences, and commercial buildings (NOT public energy distribution or power generation systems).
• Update & Expansion: Third edition aligns terms with recent IEC standards (like IEC 61140:2016), adds terms reflecting new safety and energy efficiency requirements, and fosters international consistency.

Key Requirements & Specifications

• Precise Definitions: Covers vital concepts such as ‘electrical installation’, ‘nominal voltage’, ‘fault current’, ‘prosuming electrical installation’ (installations that both produce and consume energy), and hundreds of others, each detailed in multiple languages for clarity.
• Horizontal Publication: Designed as a foundational language for use by all IEC technical committees and standards developers.
• Coherence and Adoption: Promotes smooth communication among international project teams, suppliers, contractors, and compliance bodies.

Who Needs to Comply?

• Engineers and technical staff specifying, installing, or maintaining electrical systems.
• Project managers overseeing new installations or upgrades.
• Safety officers and compliance auditors tasked with documenting, communicating, or cross-referencing electrical requirements.

Practical Implications for Implementation

• Clear communication across borders, projects, and trades: Ensures everyone uses the same language, reducing errors and litigation risk.
• Ease of design, procurement, and inspection: Streamlines tendering and ensures consistent system documentation and training.
• Supports safety and future-proofing: Consistent terminology supports new energy management strategies, including smart grids and prosumer environments.

Notable Features

• Multi-language coverage for global projects
• Compatibility with related IEC standards
• Broad coverage: from voltage/fault types to energy-efficiency terminology

Key highlights:

• Over 22,000 entries in the wider IEV collection
• Covers core concepts for electrical installation safety, operation, and maintenance
• Essential reference for engineers, safety professionals, and managers

Access the full standard:View SIST IEC 60050-826:2023 on iTeh Standards

Industry Impact & Compliance

How These Standards Affect Businesses

Adopting these standards is a proactive investment in safety, legal compliance, and operational excellence. For businesses applying or installing lifting appliances and handling systems, non-compliance isn't just a regulatory issue—it’s a risk to reputation, productivity, and human safety.

• Risk Mitigation: Reduces potential for accidents, downtime, fines, and costly litigation.
• Competitive Edge: Certification serves as a mark of quality, demanded in tenders and supply chains worldwide.
• Regulatory Alignment: Eases compliance with EU machinery directives, ATEX (for explosive atmospheres), and occupational health & safety legislation.
• Smooth Scaling: As companies grow and take on larger or international projects, standards are essential in managing scope and ensuring compatibility between sites and project partners.
• Boost in Productivity: Safer, clearer work environments lead to fewer incidents, less confusion onsite, and quicker training.

Risks of Non-Compliance

• Increased accident rates and insurance costs
• Regulatory penalties or project shutdowns
• Reputation damage and loss of contracts

Implementation Guidance

Common Implementation Approaches

1. Gap Analysis: Compare current practices to standard requirements; identify shortfalls.
2. Staff Training: Ensure employees understand operational hazards, terminology, and safe practices.
3. Procurement & Design: Specify compliant equipment, request documentation from suppliers, and update design criteria to match the standards’ requirements.
4. Internal Procedures: Update manuals, inspection, and reporting documents to reference standards.
5. Audit & Verification: Regularly inspect equipment and systems for ongoing compliance; use external auditors if needed.

Best Practices for Adopting These Standards

• Early Integration: Include standard compliance as a design constraint from project initiation onward—not just at commissioning.
• Supplier Engagement: Select vendors whose equipment is certified to relevant standards (e.g., marked as compliant with SIST EN 1953:2025).
• Document Control: Maintain up-to-date, accessible versions of standards and related documents for all technical staff.
• Cross-Functional Training: Ensure all relevant departments (engineering, safety, purchasing, operations) have a shared understanding of standard requirements.

Resources for Organizations

• Full text standards available from iTeh Standards
• Industry working groups, seminars, and case studies
• Accredited auditors and consultants specializing in machinery and electrical safety compliance

Conclusion / Next Steps

International standards are not just bureaucratic hurdles—they are the DNA of modern, safe, and efficient materials handling. Adopting and implementing SIST EN 1953:2025 and SIST IEC 60050-826:2023 signals a commitment to worker safety, product reliability, and operational excellence. As industries move toward global integration, digitalization, and heightened safety requirements, standards compliance becomes not just advisable, but essential.

Key takeaways:

• Standards deliver significant returns in reduced risk, greater efficiency, and market access
• Early adoption and staff engagement are vital to success
• iTeh Standards offers seamless access to the latest documents and updates

Recommendation: Take action now—review your current lifting appliance and electrical installation practices, align them with these pivotal standards, and position your business for sustainable, safe growth. For updates, guidance, and access to the most current materials handling standards, explore iTeh Standards and stay ahead of the curve.

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