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Machine Safety

What Is STO (Safe Torque Off)?

The working principle, use cases and commissioning notes of Safe Torque Off, the most fundamental drive safety function.

4 min readUpdated: 2026-07-04

STO (Safe Torque Off) is the fundamental safety function that safely removes the energy a drive would use to produce torque. When STO is active, the motor coasts down.

Key distinctionSTO does not STOP the motor; it only prevents torque generation. For a controlled stop, SS1 (Safe Stop 1) is used.

How it works

STO typically removes the gate-driver supply via two independent channels (redundancy). A channel mismatch raises a safety fault.

Stop category
Cat. 0 (coast down)
Typical level
SIL 2 / PL d
STO at a glance
After commissioning STO, a validation test must be performed and documented.

Related Faults

Related Topics

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