What is meant by the term “difficult to defeat” when related to safety interlock switches in safety standards such as ANSI B11.19, ANSI B11.20, ANSI-RIA R1506, OSHA 1910.212, et al?
“Difficult to defeat” is a subjective term related to workers’ propensity to override or bypass safety devices intended to protect them from injury. Colloquially it means that the relevant devices or systems cannot be defeated or bypassed using readily available means (such as a piece of wire, tape, simple hand tool, etc.). It implies the basic safety interlock switch design serves as a deterrent to easily overriding or bypassing its intended function.
