The 2025 revision of ISO 10218, the safety standard for industrial robots, is the first major update since 2011. Trade coverage reports it adds cybersecurity requirements as they relate to robot safety, folds in the collaborative robot content of ISO/TS 15066, and makes functional safety requirements more explicit.
What the coverage reports
The Robot Report, dated 18 February 2025, summarizes the revision announced by the Association for Advancing Automation after nearly eight years of work. The reported changes:
- Cybersecurity requirements, as they relate to industrial robot safety.
- The previously separate ISO/TS 15066 on collaborative robots is integrated into the standard.
- New robot classifications, each with matching functional safety requirements and test methods.
- Functional safety requirements stated more explicitly rather than implied.
- Guidance on manual load and unload and on end effectors, brought in from the former technical reports ISO/TR 20218-1 and 20218-2.
The article also says North American versions, ANSI/RIA R15.06 and CSA Z434, were expected later in 2025. This post could not confirm whether they have been released, so check with the issuing bodies.
What "cybersecurity as it relates to safety" means
The scope matters. As reported, the standard does not turn into a general security standard. It addresses cybersecurity to the extent that it affects the safety of the robot. A compromised controller that disables a protective stop is the kind of case that connects the two fields.
This post rests on trade coverage and does not quote the clauses, so do not treat it as a statement of exact requirements. Buy the standard before you design to it.
What to do now if you build or integrate robots
- Get the current edition and map your product or cell to its new classifications.
- Ask your safety engineers and security engineers to review the same document together.
- List the interfaces that can change a safety related parameter, such as remote programming, configuration files and update channels, and check who can use each one.
- Keep a record of software and firmware versions on safety related components, in line with your inventory work.
Where it sits among other rules
The standard is published in parts, 10218-1 and 10218-2, which OSHA lists separately. In the United States, OSHA says robotics has no specific OSHA standards and treats such standards as national consensus guidance. See our post on which standards apply to robot safety in the US.
Questions to put to a supplier
If you buy a robot, ask which edition of the standard it was designed to, whether cybersecurity measures related to safety were assessed, and how safety related software updates are controlled. Ask for the answers in writing. If you are the supplier, expect these questions from customers and prepare a short document that explains your approach in plain terms.
Quick check
Does the new ISO 10218 replace ISO/TS 15066?
Per the trade coverage, the technical specification on collaborative robots has been integrated into the revised standard. Confirm the status of the older document with ISO.
Sources
- The Robot Report, ISO 10218 industrial robot safety standard receives major overhaul
- OSHA, robotics standards
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
