Systematic Capability is achieved when the equipment used to implement any safety function is designed using procedures intended to prevent systematic design errors. The rigor of the required procedure is a function of a Safety Integrity Level (SIL). This is evaluated through an assessment of the quality management system…
Most software developers are familiar with the need for and benefits of change control. Usually change control means one thing to a software developer and that is 'commits' to a source code revision control system. Not only do small and regular commits provide significant advantages to large teams of…
You don’t’ really know what you know until you have to explain it (or teach it) to someone else.
When I’m asked about some of the technical aspects of functional safety, I have to stop and ask myself “What Do I Know About This?” I’m not the kind…
Do you want to know more about IEC 61508 certification, but you’re not sure if you are ready to jump in? Don’t worry, we will make this process as painless as possible.
Here is what to expect:
An April 2019 report from the Institute of Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) makes the point that even though software ‘runs the world’, software security is an afterthought across virtually all industries.
The report states that this lack of software security is actually a National Threat given that this…
IEC 61508 Certification is a Third-Party Validation against the standard’s requirements, comprising of:
To achieve an…
The ISA-18.2 and IEC 62682 standards define an alarm as an “audible and/or visible means of indicating to the operator an equipment malfunction, process deviation, or abnormal condition requiring a timely response”. One of the reasons why alarm systems are out of control (alarm overload, nuisance alarms)…
IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 functional safety standards allow Safety Integrity Levels (SIL) to be used four ways by end users:
Last Saturday, I read an article about hackers who were behind at least two potentially fatal intrusions on oil and gas industrial facilities (Yes I read cyber articles on the weekend 
). Besides the fact that I enjoy learning about cybersecurity on my…
IEC 61508 functional safety standard indicates Safety Integrity Levels (SIL) needs to be evaluated by three design barriers:
Systematic Capability is achieved when the equipment…
Information Technology (IT) is the personnel, hardware, and software that controls non-physical devices and/or processes such as websites, financial data, personal information, etc.
Operation Technology (OT) is the personnel, hardware, and software that controls physical devices and/or processes such as manufacturing, oil & gas, power, etc. Today, OT has many…
The IEC 61511 standard recommends the use of a functional safety lifecycle. Any safety lifecycle can be used, but the standard lays out a process which can be divided into three main classifications as an example.
The lifecycle is set up like this:
I have received several calls lately to our Australia / New Zealand office about whether it is acceptable to use published failure rates that seem too good to be true.
The person calling is usually doing a SIL verification calculation for an operating plant or for an…
IEC 61511: 2016 Process Industry Sector
IEC 61511 is a technical standard that sets out practices in the engineering of systems that ensure the safety of an industrial process through the use of instrumentation. It entails requirements for users of process control and instrumentation for component / element or sub-system safety.…
The IEC 61508 standard recommends the use of a functional safety lifecycle. Any safety lifecycle can be used, but the standard does lay out a nominal 16-step process which can be divided into three main classifications as an example.
The Analysis phase of the lifecycle deals with gathering background…