Read free technical articles on functional safety, IEC 61508 and IEC 61511.
Prevent loss and improve safety instrumented systems - SIS.
Calculations for verifying a Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) with Safety Integrity Level (SIL) performance requirement are standard in the process industry these days. You will find examples in both the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 standards and Functional Safety (FS) training courses like those available on this site.There are also Read More
When it comes to implementing safety instrumented systems (SIS) to comply with functional safety standard IEC 61511, the safety PLC is a pivotal device to specify. So, what are the key questions that you need to ask if choosing a new system supplier? Read more here.What is the difference between standard and Read More
Suppose your staff and contractors need to get up to speed with improving IEC 61511 functional safety competence for safety instrumented systems. If that's the case, this is the right blog for you.Developed over the past seven years, we've delivered many years of experience to hundreds of professionals with our Read More
You may not know or care much about Hardware Fault Tolerance (HFT) unless you're working in a hazardous industry with Safety Integrity Level *SIL requirements. However, just like the multiple safety systems in your motor vehicle, systems used for protecting hazardous process plants are often built with intentional redundancy, both for Read More
A SIF gets specified as an automated independent protection layer (IPL), often as the result of a safety integrity level (SIL) target-setting exercise, also known variously as a SIL determination, SIL study or SIL assessment.Like any many other safety engineering activities, designing a safety instrumented function (SIF) usually involves several Read More
Are the terms "Mean Time Between Failures" (MTBF) and "Safety Integrity Level" (SIL) related to each other? Some would think not but read on if you'd like to discover if that's true.MTBFEquipment suppliers have been providing MTBF data for their electrical and electronic equipment for decades. The base information usually Read More
Ever wondered how to proof test a safety instrumented system? Proof test is a term that was first coined in the original IEC 61511 standard (functional safety - safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector). Unlike regular testing to see if a system performs as required by a specification, a Read More
This blog will help if you have ever tried to do a SIL verification for probability of failure (PFD or PFH) of a safety function. A safety integrity level - SIL verification - is needed for compliance with IEC 61511 / ISA 61511 in the process sector and in IEC Read More
This article proposes real benefits for team online eLearning for the topic of IEC 61511 functional safety competence with safety instrumented systems.IEC 61511 Functional SafetyMany think of IEC 61511 as a design standard. Yet, it provides much more than that. Strategically adopting IEC 61511 can seriously improve personnel competence and Read More
The safety instrumented system PDF was written to provide an overview of key terminology and aspects of the safety life-cycle according to IEC 61511 edition 2. The eBook is aimed at process industry functional safety applications of safety instrumented systems - SIS. It takes many years to master the technical Read More
If you own or operate any electrical / electronic or programmable system that has safety functions with a SIL (safety integrity level) rating, then you need to conduct periodic functional safety audit or FSA 4.I hear you say, "functional safety audits and functional safety assessments are not a requirement, our Read More
I often get asked how to become a certified functional safety professional or certified functional safety expert (CFSP or CFSE). Well, here's a blog that explains the background, what your options are, and how much preparation time you'll need to put in to take the CFSE or CFSP test.CFSE / Read More
BUYER BEWARE! There are many types of course currently marketed as "ONLINE", that sadly do not make meet the simplest test of what this actually suggests. I have followed this carefully over the past 10 years, and the variability is still quite staggering. If you are interested in online functional Read More
Functional Safety Assessment may be a dry topic even at the best of times, so much so that I took it as a personal challenge to try and write a paper about it!The paper highlights experiences from several different projects and concludes with some simple recommendations to save time, money Read More
What happens when a functional safety project is not well planned, plans are not properly communicated or accountabilities are unclear? Safety-related projects are essentially no different to any other project in terms of management, but the issue of accountability is a clear issue that often does not get enough attention. When Read More
When it comes to deciding on using hard-wired logic or a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) for a safety instrumented system logic solver design, there are some clear positive and negatives to each approach. So, how do you decide whether a programmable system is advisable or necessary given the possibility for cyber Read More
Why do people attend training courses, and what can online Cloud based E-Learning provide for your competence management system that a traditional classroom course cannot?Why does any employee attend a training course? Very often the main answer to the question is that the employer requires them to, usually to enable Read More
Achieving complete compliance with "risk-based" functional safety standards like IEC 61511 is a great objective to have, but is it, in fact, possible? Experience with process industry functional safety assessment and audit would suggest that 100% compliance is NOT realistic when there are approximately 593 clauses, sub-clauses and bullet-point requirements in Read More
If you're responsible for a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) with Safety Integrity Level (SIL) rated functions, then you might be wondering where to start with cybersecurity standards for industrial automation and control systems (IACS). Read this blog to find out my personal take.The recently updated process sector safety instrumented system Read More
Perhaps you have installed safety systems which date from the 1990's or early turn of this century. If so, you might be wondering whether you need to follow IEC 61511 edition 2 for Safety Integrity Level (SIL) conformance?If your safety system installation pre-dates 2004 then you are highly unlikely to Read More
How do you get valued staff and contractors to engage with Process Safety, Functional Safety and similar "tricky" subjects? Send them on a training course or ask them to take some online training? How about both? An online plus classroom experience might just be the answer to getting a step-change Read More
The headline, extracted from a popular song lyric*, uses the double-negative "don't need no", quite intentionally - to help emphasize a point. Whatever the song writer meant I'll leave to others to decipher, but for my purposes hopefully it will get attention. * The lyric "We don't need no education" is Read More
The recently updated process sector safety instrumented system (SIS) standard IEC 61511 now requires that a "security risk assessment is carried out to identify security vulnerabilities of the SIS" [1]. But how should such an assessment be approached*, and what can you do to prepare for it?There have been well Read More
Read on to see the software buyer's guide table...a comparison of 4 cloud-based software solutions for functional safety. This blog will will look at the main reasons why using such software is better than many traditional approaches, which companies are working in the domain, and the questions you should ask Read More
Without effective functional safety assessment and audit, you may never know whether your safety system will perform when it is really needed. That is perhaps a bold statement, but read on if you think you disagree.Read to the end of this blog to get the FREE RACI matrix spreadsheet for Read More
For the third blog of this series, the focus is on proof testing. This article will look at what proof testing is, why it's needed, and give some outline examples of proof test procedure requirements.What is "proof testing" and why is it needed?The term "proof testing" was first introduced in the Read More
Operation and maintenance procedures for Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) will vary from company to company. However, there are some specific requirements that need to be covered for safe continued operation.The first blog on this topic discussed general operation and maintenance (O&M) requirements for sustaining the integrity of a SIS. This Read More
How do you ensure a Safety Instrumented System in operation will maintain its original design integrity for a lifetime of 15+ years?The IEC 61511 (2016) safety life-cycle provides some brief guidance for operation and maintenance of a safety instrumented system (SIS) in clause 16. The stated objectives are to ensure Read More
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