exida explains Blog

exida has launched the web site www.silsafedata.com. SILSafe Data is a web site listing a number of product categories used in process control and the expected range of failure rates for process industry applications. The use of realistic and application appropriate failure rate data has a significant…

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We all know when we’re finished with the product development cycle; it’s printed in a little box on the project schedule Gantt chart.  The end of July… right there on the schedule, and it’s been there since the project inception.  So what happens when you reach 31-July and your…

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While channel surfing the TV this weekend, I happened to stop on an old show called “My Mother The Car.”  (Ok, I’m dating myself, but it was filmed in color, as opposed to some other favorite old shows still in black-and-white).  The fictional car, a 1928 Porter built for…

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The adoption of the functional safety standards continues to gain momentum in turbine applications. Both industrial and power turbine sites are now requiring compliance to IEC 61511. This blog will review both technical requirements and market trends related to functional safety system design. Market trends will cover which standards…

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The adoption of the functional safety standards continues to gain momentum in turbine applications. Both industrial and power turbine sites are now requiring compliance to IEC 61511. This blog will review both technical requirements and market trends related to functional safety system design. Market trends will cover which standards…

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Hacking public transportation systems is always depicted on TV and movies.  And they make it seem so easy… it only takes seconds for these fictional experts.  Is it a reality?

Well, the Amtrak train derailment that occurred earlier this year in Philadelphia got me thinking about “hacking” as a…

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The “see something, say something” mantra is being used as a countermeasure for terrorism and crime, but it can also be effective to improve functional safety in development teams and plant sites.  It could be useful in general process improvement as well.

This can be especially evident during training…

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Click here to read the first entry in this blog series (What is SIL compliance?)

Click here to read the second entry in this blog series (How is SIL Used?)

As we now know, a Safety Integrity Level (SIL) can only be given to a…

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Click here to read the first entry in this blog series 

Once the Safety Integrety Level (SIL) of a product is found, it will be used FOUR ways:

1. To establish risk reduction requirements
2. Probabilistic limits for hardware random failure
3. Architectural constraints 
…

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The Safety Integrety Level (SIL) of a product is determined by three things:

1. The Systematic Capability Rating
2. The  Architectural Constraints for the element
3. The PFDavg Calculation for the product

The Systematic Capability Rating

Systematic Capability is established by having your quality management system audited per IEC 61508.…

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*The “Just Do It” approach was previously referenced in the blog entry Seat-of-your-Pants Software?

If used early in the development lifecycle, a “just do it” approach could help marketing determine the look-and-feel of an application program with a complex user interface.  Early software prototyping on a PC…

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Plane crash?

Earthquake?

Ebola outbreak?

Shark attack?

There are probably lots more things to add to that list.  What could we do to prevent them?  Not too much for some… a little more for others.  But would those mitigations be practical?  What tolerable risk can we accept for these…

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I remember the first time I ever saw a spreadsheet program. It was called “VisiCalc" and ran on a Commodore PET computer. My first thought was, “What is that good for?” Then I tried it and was totally hooked. I conclude that the creation of the spreadsheet has changed…

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There seems to be a bunch of confusion surrounding systematic capability and random capability.  I will try to clear up the confusion by explaining what is all considered and what the IEC standard says about both. 

Systematic Capability

• Development process/quality system requirements depend on certification SIL level, higher…

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I did my homework, purchased certified devices, and specified physical redundancy. I expected an uneventful SIL Verification but the assessor is telling me that I have functions failing Architectural Constraints in the sensor and final element groups. How can that be? 

Low demand mode Safety Instrumented Function (SIF)…

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