IEC/EN 62368-1 (AV and IT Equipment Safety)
IEC 62368-1, adopted in Europe as EN 62368-1 and in North America as UL 62368-1, is the product safety standard for audio, video, information and communication technology equipment. It applies a hazard based safety engineering approach that classifies energy sources and the protection needed against them, and it has replaced the earlier EN 60950-1 and EN 60065 standards.
Key Takeaways
IEC 62368-1 is the safety standard for audio, video, information and communication technology equipment.
It is published in Europe as EN 62368-1 and in North America as UL 62368-1.
The standard uses hazard based safety engineering to classify energy sources and their safeguards.
It replaced the earlier EN 60950-1 for IT equipment and EN 60065 for audio video equipment.
The standard sets the safety requirements for a broad range of electrical and electronic equipment, including computers, networking hardware, displays and audio video devices. It aims to prevent injury from electrical, thermal, mechanical and energy related hazards.
Rather than prescribing fixed constructions, the standard identifies energy sources, classifies them by the harm they could cause and defines the safeguards needed. This approach adapts more readily to new technologies than the standards it replaced.
IEC 62368-1 consolidated and superseded EN 60950-1, which covered information technology equipment, and EN 60065, which covered audio video equipment, bringing both product families under a single modern safety framework.
Compliance with IEC 62368-1 supports CE marking in Europe through the Low Voltage Directive and UL certification in North America, making it central to placing AV and IT hardware on these markets.
Frequently Asked Questions
It replaced EN 60950-1 for information technology equipment and EN 60065 for audio and video equipment.
Yes. EN 62368-1 is the European adoption of the international IEC 62368-1 standard, and UL 62368-1 is the North American version.
An approach that classifies the energy sources within a product and defines safeguards based on the harm each could cause, rather than prescribing fixed designs.
Audio, video, information technology and communication equipment such as computers, displays, networking devices and rugged terminals.
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