Assessing Common Cause for BPCS Shared Components | exida

exida Recorded Webinars

Assessing Common Cause for BPCS Shared Components

Recording Date: August 2020

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.

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About the Presenter:

Denise Chastain Knight, P.E., CFSE, CCPSC

Denise Chastain Knight Denise Chastain Knight P.E., CFSE, CCPSC has 31 years’ experience in engineering design, process improvements, process risk analysis and safety instrumented system implementation.  Her recent responsibilities included coordination of risk management, process safety management, combustible dust and functional safety programs for a global consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management firm. She has been technical lead for IEC 615811 compliance projects in the oil& gas, chemical and power industries for clients in multiple countries.  Denise holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and is an inductee of the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni. She was voted Georgia’s Young Engineer of the Year in 1994, past chair of the NCEES PE Chemical Engineering Exam Development Committee, chaired the AIChE Body of Knowledge Development Team, and an AIChE Fellow. Denise represents exida on the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Technical Steering Committee.