Congratulations! You’ve completed the Analysis and Realization phases of the Safety Lifecycle, and are about to begin the Operation phase, but what’s next? Well obviously you need to do proof testing, but is there anything else? You may be familiar with the figure below:
exida explains Blog
Entries tagged with: Safety Lifecycle
- by Iwan van Beurden, CFSE
- Monday, July 23, 2012
- Software
Analysis and Realization: Done. Let’s Start Operation… What’s Next?
- by Dr. Eric Scharpf, CFSE
- Thursday, February 16, 2012
- Functional Safety
Babies, Bathwater, and Australian Safety Laws
The old saying goes, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” But it looks like a number of people in Australia may be in danger of doing just that with their response to the country’s newly harmonized health and safety laws.
Australia’s new Read More...
- by Loren Stewart, CFSE
- Thursday, March 21, 2019
- Functional Safety
Back to Basics 01 - Functional Safety
In the following series of blogs, we'll go back to basics and run down everything you need to know to get started in functional safety. We'll start with some more general terms and descriptions and make our way to more advanced material.
1. Functional Safety
Functional safety means the…
- by Loren Stewart, CFSE
- Thursday, March 28, 2019
- Functional Safety
Back to Basics 02 - Safety Integrity Level (SIL)
In the following series of blogs, we'll go back to basics and run down everything you need to know to get started in functional safety. We'll start with some more general terms and descriptions and make our way to more advanced material.
2. Safety Integrity Level (SIL)
Read More...
- by Loren Stewart, CFSE
- Wednesday, April 10, 2019
- Functional Safety
Back to Basics 03 - Safety Instrumented Function (SIF)
In the following series of blogs, we'll go back to basics and run down everything you need to know to get started in functional safety. We'll start with some more general terms and descriptions and make our way to more advanced material.
3. SIF
SIF – Safety Instrumented Function…
- by Loren Stewart, CFSE
- Tuesday, May 14, 2019
- Functional Safety
Back to Basics 07– Safety Lifecycle – IEC 61508
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…
- by Loren Stewart, CFSE
- Thursday, May 30, 2019
- Functional Safety
Back to Basics 09 – Safety Lifecycle – IEC 61511
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:
- Analyze the situation and document…
- by Michael Medoff , CFSE, CISA
- Tuesday, July 16, 2013
- Industrial Cybersecurity
Cyber Security, Beyond the Internet: An Automation Engineer’s View
The world of automation has changed significantly over the past 30 years. I have fond memories of starting my career by calibrating, adjusting, and tuning pneumatic control loops while working my way through the electronic age right up to the present digital and cyber generation of automation. If you…
- by Dr. William Goble, CFSE
- Saturday, April 09, 2011
- Functional Safety
Driving with Blinders
Imagine: An automobile that has only one window in the front. No side windows. The driver can see to steer the auto forward and turn, but cannot see completely from side to side. What happens when the driver reaches an intersection with no traffic lights? The driver cannot see…
- by Dr. William Goble, CFSE
- Monday, June 01, 2015
- Functional Safety
Getting Realistic Failure Rate Data - Part 1
Over the course of several blogs , I will talk about getting realistic failure rate data, where this failure data comes from, and how different methods of failure data analysis compare. I think if you understand this, you will begin to get a very good feel of what it…
- by John Yozallinas, CFSE
- Wednesday, December 07, 2011
- Certification
It Ought to be a Crime
There is no shortage of drivers who try to “beat the red light,” or roll through a stop sign. I see it every day (luckily BEFORE they hit my side door). Even though everyone knows, or should know the “rules of the road,” there are some folks who are…
- by Dr. Eric Scharpf, CFSE
- Monday, April 18, 2011
- Functional Safety
Lifecycle Analysis: It’s Worth the Effort
Performing a risk analysis as part of an IEC61508 / 61511 / ISA 84.01 safety lifecycle process can be quite challenging. How can you be sure you get what you need within budget and how can your team provide the best value for money?…
- by Steve Gandy, CFSP
- Tuesday, October 29, 2013
- Certification
Obtaining My CFSE/CFSP Certification: Why Bother?
It’s an interesting question and one I asked myself. For any engineer and/or professional working in the controls business or process industries where safety-related equipment is required, it is essential (per IEC61511-1 Clause 5.2.2: Organization and Resources) to prove competency to carry out any safety-lifecycle activities. So what does…
- by Dave Johnson, CFSE
- Tuesday, June 16, 2015
- Industrial Cybersecurity
Performing a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment as a Component of the PHA
There are three main components of the safety lifecycle: analysis, realization, and operation. We will be taking a look at the analysis phase, particularly related to the cyber industry.
To start, the first thing to do in both safety and security is do a detailed process, hazard and…
- by Kate Hildenbrandt
- Wednesday, January 18, 2017
- Software
Reducing Project Lifecycle Cost with exSILentia®
The international functional safety standard IEC 61511 provides the safety lifecycle as a steadfast guideline to assess and mitigate risk for manufacturing processes including refineries, chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, and power plants. To achieve a functionally safe system, it is essential to follow each…
- by John Yozallinas, CFSE
- Thursday, April 14, 2011
- Certification
Stepping stones to SIL 3
Imagine. Marketing has just approached the engineering department and says your new safety product must have SIL 3 Capable certification instead of SIL 2 to be successful. You are in the engineering group developing this new product. Now what?
Let’s assume that the “change request” makes…
- by Dr. Eric Scharpf, CFSE
- Thursday, April 26, 2012
- Functional Safety
The Safety Lifecycle as a Risk Control Loop
I have been doing a number of recent projects introducing the safety lifecycle to companies that are new to the field. As a result I have been playing with various ways to think about the overall safety lifecycle philosophy. As many of the more experienced readers are…
- by Dr. William Goble, CFSE
- Thursday, October 13, 2011
- Functional Safety
Two Billion Hours
When I studied Reliability Engineering in graduate school, I was taught that failure rate data came from field failure studies. I assumed that operating companies always kept accurate records when a piece of equipment failed. I also assumed that someone would investigate the failures and assign a root cause.…
- by John Yozallinas, CFSE
- Friday, September 20, 2013
- Certification
Under Pressure
Pressure can be good. It creates diamonds, right? It can help us focus; may move us to learn something new. It can help reduce procrastination. However pressure can quickly turn into a bad thing if it causes us to skip important process steps or to force a release because…
- by Steve Gandy, CFSP
- Thursday, April 26, 2018
- Functional Safety
Which FSAs Do I Have to Perform?
The new release of IEC61511:2016 has caused some confusion when it comes to the Functional Safety Assessments (FSAs). Which ones are mandatory?
The confusion comes from the wording in the standard and the clarifications in the notes. The relevant clause in the standard 5.2.6.1.4 states:
A FSA team…