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Recorded Webinars: How Can Templates Lead to Improved Cybersecurity Policies and Procedures?
Cybersecurity management is critical for maintaining a secure Industrial Control System over time. Having well documented procedures from risk assessment, through system design, and into the operations and maintenance phase is a key difference between a purely reactive cybersecurity posture and a mature approach that builds on continuous improvement. Using templates for these policies and procedures not only speeds up the development process, but also ensures alignment with the IEC 62443 standards and industry best practice.
Blog Entry: Share the Wealth (of Functional Safety Knowledge)
Experience is a good teacher. But how do you get the experience? Formal classroom or online training is often available for more general skills, but on-the-job training usually provides a more in-depth path to gain such experience. After doing a job for a while, working through difficulties with colleagues, and…
News Item: exida Introduces New IEC 62443 Cyber Templates for End Users
exida is excited to introduce a new set of IEC 62443 cyber templates intended for end users. Cybersecurity management is critical for maintaining a secure Industrial Control System over time. Having well documented procedures from risk assessment, through system design, and into the operations and maintenance phase is a key…
News Item: exida Launches Self-Paced IACS IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Lifecycle Course
Sellersville, PA: The global leader in industrial cybersecurity services for the process industries, exida, has launched the self-paced training course CS 102: Industrial Automation Control Systems (IACS) IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Lifecycle . CS 204 addresses integration of cybersecurity into the functional safety lifecycle per the IEC 62443 standards. While cybersecurity…
White Paper: When and When Not to Use Failure Rates Based on Cycle Testing Data
When and When Not to Use Failure Rates Based on Cycle Testing Data in the Computation of Safety Metrics for SIF Elements One data source for predicting failure rates for final elements used in safety instrumented functions (SIF) is cycle testing. In cycle testing, the mechanical equipment’s moveable components are…
Recorded Webinars: How to Cause a False Trip with Your Final Element Design
In many industrial processes an automatic safety function is implemented using a remote actuated valve. The design objective is to trip the process when a dangerous condition is detected and to keep the process operating when no dangerous condition is detected. A lot of attention is paid to failures that impact the ability of a safety function to trip. But in many applications a “false trip” is not only costly but may create dangerous situations. Many heritage designs for the pneumatic/hydraulic controls increase the false trip rate. Justification is usually an improvement is safety. This webinar compares several pneumatic designs and shows trip rates and safety probabilities for each design. May the best design win.
News Item: Video - Functional Safety Certification for Software
exida's Ted Stewart and Dave Butler, CFSE joined Mark Hermeling of Grammatech to discuss frequently asked questions in the realm of functional safety certification for software. View the video here
Blog Entry: Safety Alarms and Why ISA-84.91.03 is Needed
On July 27, the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued a Factual Update on their investigation into a release of water containing a toxic gas (hydrogen sulfide) and subsequent fatal injuries sustained at the Aghorn Operating Waterflood Station. While it is typically not a good idea to comment on investigations…
White Paper: Integrated Safety for a Single BMS
Evaluation Based on Siemens Simatic PCS7 System Any industry that has a requirement for a heated medium, whether it is used for process, utilities or emissions, utilizes equipment that has combustion controls and combustion safeguards. There has been an evolution in these controls from a traditional control that separates the…
Petroleum Technology Company, A.S. - VR Pressure Sensor / Transmitter
IEC 61508 in the Safety Automation Equipment List
News Item: exida Publishes Practical Guide to Functional Safety Management
Sellersville, PA: The global leader in functional safety, IACS cybersecurity, and alarm management for the process industries, exida, has announced the publication of Functional Safety for Managers, What Managers Need to Know . The book clearly presents and explains the importance of Functional Safety Management, as well as having well…
News Item: New White Paper: Application of Safety Instrumented Systems in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Processes
At first glance, one might assume that Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) processing is simply a compression and cooling process. Deeper observation reveals unique process challenges of flammable and explosible materials, high-pressure rotating equipment, and cryogenic conditions. LNG facilities are typically developed by connecting highly specialized process units designed and constructed…
White Paper: Application of Safety Instrumented Systems in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Processes
At first glance, one might assume that Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) processing is simply a compression and cooling process. Deeper observation reveals unique process challenges of flammable and explosible materials, high-pressure rotating equipment, and cryogenic conditions. LNG facilities are typically developed by connecting highly specialized process units designed and constructed…
Synopsys, Inc. - Synopsys TestMAX Tool Chain
ISO 26262 in the Safety Automation Equipment List
Recorded Webinars: IEC 61511 and Failure Rates
This webinar will help in understanding the changes to IEC61511 2016 regarding failure rates for use in the reliability calculations (i.e. PFDavg or PFH) of random failures for SIF equipment. Some certification agencies have been issuing certificates for equipment with extremely low failure rates, when compared to industry databases. This can lead to optimistically and dangerously low estimates of PFDavg/PFH for SIF equipment. The webinar will identify how to look at these failure rates and to make a quick judgement on whether they meet the requirements of IEC61511.
What you will learn:
- How to identify bad failure rates
- What to look for on certificates
- Where to be able to compare certificates
Who should attend:
- Engineering companies
- End Users
- Supervisors & Managers
News Item: Integrated Automation Lifecycle Symposium Hosted by exida
Please join us for a three-day virtual Symposium on the integrated automation lifecycles: Functional Safety, Alarm Management, and Cybersecurity. Effective risk management requires consideration of all three lifecycles, by integrating relevant activities across these lifecycles significant improvements can be made. A maturity based process for improving each of these lifecycles…
Blog Entry: IEC 62061 Machine Safety: “It’s simply the right thing to do”
I can't begin to tell you how many of our customers share with us how lucky they have been to be incident-free at their plant. Or, because they have not had an incident in over 10 years, it is hard to justify the cost of a Machine Hazard & Risk…
Blog Entry: Back to Basics: Failure Rates - λS
The Greek symbol λS represents safe or spurious failure rates in functional safety expressed in the unit of measurement of FITs which can be determined through FMEDAs . ( FITs (λ) are failures per billion hours, expressed by 10 -9 hours). λS is the number of safe of spurious failures…
Blog Entry: IEC61511 and Failure Rates
Most end users I teach in our FSE100 class are not really aware of or fully, understand when we talk about failure rates. For example, what’s a FIT mean? For those end users more versed in this, they understand what is meant by a FIT. Essentially a device can have…
Recorded Webinars: Assessing Common Cause for BPCS Shared Components
In an ideal world there is complete independence between a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) and the Basic Process Control System (BPCS); however, perfect separation cannot always be achieved leading to the potential for common cause failure that could defeat both layers of protection simultaneously. IEC 61511:2016 requires that the SIS design must identify and take account of common cause failures. This webinar will review some of the potential sources for common cause failure and will provide examples on how to account for this in the SIL Verification calculation.