On January 5th CSA Group published the first edition of particular requirements for rechargeable battery-operated commercial robotic floor treatment machines with traction drives. CSA 22.2 - 336 is a National Standard of Canada.
If you are a robotics engineer working for a company planning to…
Some organizations complain about the ‘high bar’ to comply with 61508. They complain that there is too much overhead in documentation and testing, and it all costs too much. Other organizations actually benefit from this ‘high bar’ as a barrier to entry for competitors. This is a differentiation factor…
Have you ever wondered why some dangerous failures are classified as undetected and others are classified as detective? Aren’t dangerous failures all dangerous? Why do we classify them differently?
Let's say we have a plant that is running in normal operation mode and the system needs to trip. The…
Which one of these layers of protection (operator response to alarm, relief valves, dikes, and safety instrumented systems) is not like the other?
Operator response to alarm (Operator Intervention), because of the “Human” factor.
It is very difficult to calculate the probability…
Traceability is about connecting the dots to determine that the web of activities for a functional safety project have followed the proper paths. Think of it like cheating at hide-n-seek; it provides a shortcut to find all those requirements and design parts that are hidden in your specification documents. …
I saw and responded to a LinkedIn discussion on this very issue, where someone had asked “if I have a misaligned limit switch that fails dangerously, then is it random or systematic? “. This is an intriguing question because many view human error as being systematic and, whereas, this…
Today, we are going to talk a little bit about Contractor Cyber Training. What's in a good contractor cyber training course? Why do you need one? Why aren't policies, practices, and contract language enough?
Today's operators of industrial production facilities frequently utilize contract…
This is a question I often get asked when I’m teaching our FSE100 course on Functional Safety, when we discuss the purpose of Proof Testing and coverage. It’s amazing how many end users assume perfect proof testing (i.e. 100% coverage), that is capable of finding, all the…
Throughout history, total solar eclipses have been a significant event. In primitive societies, eclipses were viewed with fear or as important omens. In the US, the upcoming “Great American Solar Eclipse” is creating much excitement. From buying “official” eclipse-viewing glasses, to paying $1500 or more…
I get an email that includes a “certificate” of some sort most every week. The sender asks “Can I accept this certificate?” Or the sender might ask “Are these failure rates valid for the process industries?”
At exida we have some specific criteria we use when performing third party…
I, like many others, was stunned to hear that there was a major power outage covering the Outer Banks. Being an engineer, my instincts were to immediately investigate what happened and what steps occurred to lead to that point. Even before I did research, my mind was already asking…
Your organization gets information, feedback, and requests from customers all the time. It’s up to you to do some preliminary analysis and determine what the customer really wants. Do they want to buy something? Do they want to complain about something? Do they have a need for which no…
Co-written by Todd Stauffer, Director of Alarm Management Services at exida
A wise man once said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Let's apply this to the world of cybersecurity to discuss the importance of cybersecurity metrics and how they are different from a cyber diagnostic and a…
One of the fundamentals of the Probability of Failure on Demand (PFDavg) calculations in SIL verification analysis, is the concept of a constant failure-rate during useful life of the equipment. Probabilistic calculations assume that the failure rate of the devices used in a Safety Instrumented System (SIS)…
To be clear, the above title is meant to capture your attention. We all understand and know that it is unusual for a Process Safety engineer and the IT architect to possess detailed knowledge of both safety and security. In today’s world, the operators, engineers, design and support personnel of…