INNOVATION
In conversation with Medi Mohtasham, Founder and CEO of IDEM Safety Switches… What does winning a fourth King’s Award for Enterprise mean to IDEM? Medi Mohtasham: Winning a fourth royal award is a tremendous honour and a proud moment for everyone at IDEM. These awards recognise the creativity, skill and dedication of our whole team, from design and engineering through to production, testing and customer support. To be recognised again for Innovation shows that continuous improvement is deeply embedded in the culture of the company. For us, innovation must always have a clear purpose. In machine safety, that purpose is to protect people working with industrial machinery. This latest award is especially meaningful because it recognises a product designed to address one of the most serious challenges in our industry: preventing tampering, manipulation and forced entry.
IDEM’s newest products – the DS range of configurable safety interlocks and control stations
“Winning a fourth royal award is a
IDEM’s continued commitment to innovation, UK manufacturing and workplace safety. The latest King’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation recognises not only a product, but a philosophy: safety devices should be designed for the real world, where failure is not an option and where every detail matters. IDEM’s dual anti-tamper RFID locking switches represent that philosophy in action – robust, intelligent and built to protect people every day, in every environment, without compromise. tremendous honour and a proud moment for everyone at IDEM. These awards recognise the creativity, skill and dedication of our whole team”
CEO and Founder Medi Mohtasham in conversation with HM King Charles III
Why is tamper resistance so important?
entry and manipulation. Together, these features give machine builders and end users greater confidence that the safety function cannot easily be defeated.
Medi Mohtasham: Safety switches are fitted to machinery to ensure that when a guard, gate or access door is opened, hazardous movement is stopped. However, in real production environments, some operators may feel pressure to keep machines running and may try to override safety devices. That is why safety switches must be robust, reliable and difficult to defeat. A product must not only perform in ideal conditions; it must work in the real world, where it may face vibration, impact, misalignment, contamination, washdown and sometimes deliberate misuse. What makes IDEM’s dual anti-tamper RFID locking switch different? Medi Mohtasham: The strength of the innovation lies in combining intelligent electronic protection with strong mechanical security. RFID technology enables the switch to recognise its correct actuator, helping prevent simple bypass methods using spare or substitute actuators. The dual anti-tamper design provides additional physical protection against forced
How does IDEM approach reliability?
Medi Mohtasham: Reliability is at the heart of everything we do. IDEM switches are designed for longevity, not obsolescence, and our testing regimes run for millions of operating cycles. In machine safety, failure is not an option. If a device ever does fail, it must fail-safe by removing power and placing the machine into a safe condition.
What’s next for IDEM?
Medi Mohtasham: We will continue investing in UK design, manufacturing and testing, and we will keep developing products that meet the changing needs of modern industry. Machinery is becoming more automated, connected and complex, so safety technology must continue to evolve. Our mission remains the same: to design and manufacture world-class safety switches that protect people and help industry operate safely and productively.
IDEM SAFETY SWITCHES LTD 2 Ormside Close, Hindley Industrial Estate, Wigan, WN2 4HR
Tel: +44 (0)1942 257070 www.idemsafety.com
King’s Awards Magazine 2026
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