IEC GUIDE 104:2019

IEC GUIDE 104 ®
Edition 5.0 2019-07
GUIDE
colour
inside
The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications
and group safety publications
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IEC GUIDE 104 ®
Edition 5.0 2019-07
GUIDE
colour
inside
The preparation of safety publications and the use of basic safety publications

and group safety publications
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.020 ISBN 978-2-8322-7196-4

– 2 – IEC GUIDE 104:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 HORIZONTAL SAFETY FUNCTIONS and GROUP SAFETY FUNCTIONS . 8
4.1 Assignment of HSF or GSF to a TC . 8
4.2 Preparation of BSP or GSP with the assigned HSF or GSF . 9
4.3 Monitoring of the assigned HSF or GSF . 10
5 Development of SAFETY publications . 11
5.1 General . 11
5.1.1 Categories of BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATIONs and GROUP SAFETY
PUBLICATIONs . 11
5.1.2 References to other publications. 12
5.1.3 SAFETY during the life of equipment . 12
5.2 BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION . 12
5.2.1 Objective and object of a BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION . 12
5.2.2 Development of a BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION . 12
5.2.3 Scope of a BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION . 13
5.2.4 Revision of a BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION . 13
5.3 GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATIONS . 13
5.3.1 Objective and object of a GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATION . 13
5.3.2 Development of a GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATION . 13
5.3.3 Scope of a GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATION . 13
5.3.4 Revision of a GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATION . 14
5.4 PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD . 14
5.4.1 SAFETY objectives and scope of a PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD (PSS) . 14
5.4.2 Development of a PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD . 15
6 Responsibilities of TCs with HORIZONTAL SAFETY FUNCTIONs or GROUP SAFETY
FUNCTIONs. 15
6.1 Co-operation and liaison with other TCs . 15
6.2 Requests from PRODUCT TCs for new work . 15
7 Responsibilities of PRODUCT TCs . 16
7.1 General . 16
7.2 Application of BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATIONs . 16
7.3 Application of GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATIONs . 16
7.4 New work requests to TCs with SAFETY functions . 16
Annex A (informative) Structure of IEC SAFETY publications . 18
Bibliography . 19

Figure 1 – Assignment of an HSF or GSF to a TC . 9
Figure 2 – Development of the first BASIC or GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATION . 10
Figure 3 – Monitoring of HSF and GSF . 11
Figure A.1 – Structure of IEC SAFETY publications . 18

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
__________
THE PREPARATION OF SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AND
THE USE OF BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATIONS AND
GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATIONS
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This fifth edition of IEC Guide 104 has been prepared, in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives,
Part 1, Annex A, by the IEC Advisory Committee on Safety (ACOS). This Guide is a
mandatory Guide in accordance with SMB Decision 136/8.
This fifth edition cancels and replaces the fourth edition published in 2010.
The main changes with respect to the previous edition are as follows:
– alignment with terms and definitions of ISO/IEC Guide 51:2014;
– reference to IEC Guide 108 in the introduction;
– creation of BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION and GROUP SAFETY PUBLICATION subcategories to
clarify the different types of document (requirements, guidance, mandatory test
procedures and reference data);
– improved structure: new titles and subclauses;

– 4 – IEC GUIDE 104:2019 © IEC 2019
– addition to the responsibilities of the technical committees (TCs) with HORIZONTAL SAFETY
FUNCTION: development of their publications in collaboration with customer TCs and
monitoring the use of their SAFETY publications;
– replacement of Annex A and the associated text by reference to IEC Guide 116;
– shortened status statement for publications with BASIC SAFETY PUBLICATION designation;
– addition of the scope items of a PRODUCT SAFETY STANDARD.
The text of this IEC Guide is based on the following documents:
Four month’s vote Report on voting
C/2145/DV C/2173/RV
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Guide can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
In this document, terms in UPPERCASE are defined in Clause 3.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
INTRODUCTION
Technical committees dealing with subjects relating to SAFETY for the whole, or for a specific
part, of their activities, are required by SMB Decision 136/8 to follow the provisions of this
document, which is to be used in conjunction with the ISO/IEC Directives and with the Guides
listed under Clause 2.
The objective of this document is to improve the consistency of the SAFETY requirements
across IEC publications. For this purpose, mandatory procedures are defined in this document
for limiting overlaps and contradictory SAFETY requirements. Consequently, this document can
be considered as complementary to ISO/IEC Directives.
Depending on the situations, RISK reduction can be analysed and implemented by different
approaches. Therefore, technical guidance about SAFETY aspects and RISK analysis is in
principle optional and detailed in other non-mandatory Guides. However, ISO/IEC Guide 51
and IEC Guide 116 are referenced in this document for specific essential requirements for
achieving SAFETY.
In this document, the term "technical committees", hereinafter referred to a
...