The most important machine design step is ensuring operator safety. During the design process, hazards are often identified that can be removed, but when a hazard cannot be removed, then various levels of safeguarding must be provided. These typically take the form of machine access guarding and point-of-operation guarding.

Unlike conventional machinery, robots lack the intelligence of a human operator. In the event of a programming error or hardware malfunction robots have the potential to unexpectedly move large distances at a high rate of speed, posing a serious danger to operators or maintenance personnel.