Functional Safety is the part of the overall safety of a product or system that depends on the proper functioning of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic equipment (E/E/PE) used in safety systems, both in normal operation and in faulty conditions.
According to IEC61508-4:2010, 3.8.3, Functional Safety Assessment (FSA) is an investigation, based on evidence, to judge the functional safety achieved by one or more E/E/PE safety-related systems and/or other risk reduction measures.
The Safety Manual is a mandatory document required by IEC 61058:2 and IEC 61508:3 that the manufacturer must draw up and make available for its user, together with the SIL certified device.
FMEDA is a reliability assessment technique that examines potential failure modes within a system and its equipment in order to determine how these failures may affect the safety performance of equipment or subsystems.
IEC 61508 is the basic reference for Functional Safety that settle the minimum safety requirements of Safety-Related Systems to be applied in each specific industrial sector. Specifically, the process sector safety instrumented system standards refer to IEC 61511.
EN ISO 13849, divided into Parts 1 and 2, is a functional safety standard, in particular for the safety of machinery, which specifies the general principles for the design of parts of safety-related control systems (including software) and for their validation.
Functional Safety is the specific field of engineering that deals with safety systems equipped with electrical, electronic and programmable electronic technologies (E/E/PE).
Functional Safety Lifecycle is a sequence of steps that provide a logical path to commissioning, operation, maintenance, and, eventually, decommissioning of the EUC.
What are the main categories of failures with which to test the behavior of an EUC (Equipment Under Control)? How to design the system architecture so that it can tolerate a failure without losing safety function?
What is a safety function? How does it embed in a safety-related system? How to calculate the SIL level? Find out more about the meaning of functional safety.
The RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) disciplines are a set of tools that make it possible to ensure that a product, process or system fulfils the mission for which it was designed, all under the conditions of reliability, maintainability, availability and well-defined safety.
IEC 61508 considers two different types of software in regards to electrical /electronic/programmable electronic safety-related system: software system and applicative software.
SIL verification through calculation can be carried out through several methods, where the aim is always to define the achievable SIL level of the equipment (i.e. SIL n capable level).
What is the difference between ISO 13849-1 and ISO 13849-2? And what is the purpose of ISO 13849-2? In this article we introduce the main aspects of ISO 13849-2 in regards to the Performance Level of safety-related control systems and to the validation process.
Functional safety is an essential criterion for complex industrial plants. The aim is always to ensure that all the safety systems are operating properly, in line with their SIL. But what happens when a SIL device is also network connected?
The PLr (required) must be determined by first defining the risk to be mitigated, as indicated in Annex A of standard ISO 13849, applying the Risk Graph method.
In this articole you can find out all the definitions about Functional Safety. From the meaning of Functional Safety to the mandatory documents prior to the SIL certificate issue explanation, you can check out all the terminology related to the safety equipment standards.
Digitalization in its various forms (e.g. the Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence) has undergone a massive expansion in recent years, influencing not just our everyday life, but also the whole industrial sector. Increasingly smart devices can work together in an autonomous way, making decisions based on large flows of data.
Safety-related control systems (called SCSs) implemented as a result of automation play a more significant role than ever in ensuring the overall safety of machinery. These SCSs also use increasingly complex electronic technologies, hence the need to update the IEC 62061 standard.
Prior to the validation of an SRP/CS, which performs one or more safety functions, the specifications of the requirements for each safety function must be drawn up and verified to ensure their consistency and completeness for the intended use.
IEC 61511 is a technical standard related to functional safety which defines and identifies measures and techniques applicable to a safety system used in the process industry.
One of the goals of an end user is to have infrequent downtime so as to maximize production and ensure minimal maintenance costs. But is this possible when it comes to safety functions?
The hardware categories of each safety function implemented by the SRP/CS represent a subdivision, based on predefined models, of the architecture of the safety-related control system.
We often hear about field returns in functional safety, but there is often confusion between Prior Use, Proven in Use and Route 2H. But what are the differences between these terms?
We now know that when it comes to process safety in constantly connected systems the OT component has an essential role to play. But what are the similarities between these two areas, and how can they be integrated during the lifecycle of a device?
If you are a manufacturer, and sometimes you have had difficulty with managing product configurations, it is because the regulations for functional security and cyber security expect Configuration Management requirements that are not easy to implement. Find out how to deal with the problem.
These are two important standards that deal with the safety of electrical systems and frequency converters, respectively: IEC 61508 and IEC 61800-5-2. Here is a closer look at the safety guidelines for electrical systems and frequency converters.
While the New Machinery Regulation is approved, there is also some activity when it comes to harmonized standards relating to functional safety in the machine world. The final version of ISO 13849 Fourth Edition has been published: as promised in a previous article, find out here our comments.
March 2023. Draft standard EN 17955 “Industrial valves - Functional safety of safety-related valves and actuators” is released, which has changed bynow the way functional safety is evaluated for all mechanical components of automated valve packages and actuators that are generally used in safety instrumented systems.
If you are looking for concise yet accurate answers to the fundamental questions about the functional safety of components, systems, and industrial plants, you are in the right place. Discover the meaning of SIL and much more that is useful for daily operations, explored in depth and verified by our assessors, certified FS Engineers (TÜV Rheinland).
If you are looking for concise yet accurate answers to the key questions about functional safety standards applicable to components, systems, and industrial plants, you are in the right place. Explore content useful for daily operations, verified by our assessors, certified FS Engineers (TÜV Rheinland).
If you are looking for concise yet accurate answers to the key questions about the functional safety of components, systems, and industrial plants, you are in the right place. Discover the meaning of SIF and much more that is useful for everyday operations, explored in depth and verified by our assessors, certified FS Engineers (TÜV Rheinland).
If you are looking for concise yet accurate answers to the key questions about the functional safety of components, systems, and industrial plants, you are in the right place. Discover how to manage product responsibilities throughout its lifecycle, along with other useful insights for day-to-day operations, explored in depth and verified by our assessors, certified FS Engineers (TÜV Rheinland).
If you are looking for concise yet accurate answers to the key questions about compliance with functional safety standards for components, systems, and industrial plants, you are in the right place. Discover useful information for day-to-day operations, explored in depth and verified by our assessors, certified FS Engineers (TÜV Rheinland).
With the evolution of automation, cyber risks are impacting the functional safety of systems, with AI, IoT, and connectivity requiring integrated management from the very product design phase. System and machine manufacturers subject to European regulations (such as the Machinery Regulation and other related regulations including, for example, the AI Act, Data Act, Cyber Resilience Act, and NIS 2 Directive), whether CE-marked or not, can rely on international standards to ensure holistic compliance. In this article, we look at how safety and security regulations interact with one another and what is most advantageous to do in terms of system certification.
In general, a certificate is “accredited” when it has been issued by an accredited certification body. The main difference between an accredited certificate and a non-accredited one therefore lies in the level of formal recognition and independent trust in the certification process. Let us see what this means in the specific case of the SIL (Safety Integrity Level) certificate.
