The international environment of astronomical research and the worldwide distribution of astronomical institutes and observatories create a high demand of flexibility on the designers and engineers developing and building scientific instruments for use in astronomical research programs. In particular with respect to the safety performance characteristics of the scientific instruments a harmonization process among the various safety requirements could lead to more safety awareness and understanding of these requirements, and also to some kind of standardization concerning the methods and means used during the acquisition period of the instruments to reduce safety risks to an acceptable level.