Functional Safety

Safe, Secure & Complant Solutions!

Triple i & Functional Safety

PARTNER WITH OUR ENGINEERS FOR IMPROVED SAFETY

Our Engineering and Technology team has the experience and expertise for all your Functional Safety needs. Regardless of the industry or your specific needs, our team will ensure your operations are working effectively, particularly concerning Functional Safety. Whether big or small, they can deliver outcomes that make a difference.

As such, our engineers hold qualifications in Functional Safety Engineering, including TÜV Functional Safety Engineer (TÜV Rheinland). Therefore, enabling us to engage in various stages of safety for your next project. For instance, this includes the design, maintenance, and operations lifecycle.

Notably, we use hazard identification and risk assessment tools, including HAZOP and CHAZOP, as an integral part of our operations. In doing so, we facilitate the early stages of risk assessment and identification of SIFs (Safety Instrumented Functions) in process and safety design.
To summarise, we have experience to deliver services across different industrial operations regardless of the industry and also project requirements. Such services include:

  • Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA)
  • Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP)
  • SIF Identification and Safety Integrity Level (SIL) Determination
  • System and Safety Requirements
  • Specification (SRS/SSRS) including software applications
  • Safety Dossier Development
  • Safety Software Design and Integration
  • Maintenance and Operation
  • Functional Safety Management
  • SIL Verification
  • and, Functional Safety Audit

Most importantly, we ensure your system complies with industry standards including:

  • IEC61508 – Functional Safety of electrical, electronic, programmable electronic safety related systems.
  • IEC61511 – Functional Safety – Safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector.

For more information about our technical safety and risk management services, please contact our Engineering & Technology team.

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What is Functional Safety?

Comply with Standards, Reduce Risk & Optimize Production

In brief, a functional safety system detects abnormal operation of a system and automatically places or maintains a process in a safe state.

In short, functional safety is the part of the overall safety of a system or piece of equipment that depends on automatic protection operating correctly. As such, it is in response to its inputs or failure in a predictable manner, also known as a fail-safe.

Typically, Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is how this is achieved. An SIS handles errors and issues, such as likely human errors, systematic errors, hardware failures, and also operational or environmental stress, to ensure it operates as expected and when demanded.

THE PROCESS OF FUNCTIONAL SAFETY

ACHIEVING SAFETY IN PROCESSES

Overall, functional safety (FS) occurs when every specified safety function is carried out and, most importantly, the level of performance required of each safety function. As such, the process includes:

STEP 1 - RISK OR HAZARD ASSESSMENT

Firstly, Identify what the required safety functions are. In other words, you must undertake risk and hazard assessments. As such, activities include function reviews, formal Hazard Identifications (HAZIDs), HAZOPs, and accident reviews..

STEP 2 - SAFETY SYSTEM FUNCTION REQUIREMENTS

Secondly, assess the risk-reduction requirements of the safety function. Assessment will involve SIL, performance level, or other qualification assessments. Notably, a SIL applies to an end-to-end safety function of the safety-related system, not just to a component or a part of the system.

STEP 3 - SAFETY SYSTEM DESIGN & VERIFICATION

Thirdly, ensure the safety function or task performs as per the design intent. In doing so, this includes testing the safety tasks under conditions of incorrect operator input and failure modes. Most importantly, checking will also involve having the design and lifecycle managed by qualified and competent engineers carrying out processes to a recognised FS standard.

STEP 4 - SAFETY SYSTEM INSTALLATION & VALIDATION

Fourthly, verify that the system meets the assigned SIL. Verifying is done by determining the probability of dangerous failures, checking minimum levels of redundancy, and reviewing Systematic Capability (SC).

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis of the system (FMEA), which is on the equipment manufacturer datasheets, indicates the failure modes of a device. In addition, Failure Mode, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA) typically indicate failure probabilities for each failure mode.

STEP 5 - MAINTAIN & IMPROVE SAFETY SYSTEM

Lastly, conduct FS audits to examine and assess the evidence that appropriate safety lifecycle management techniques are applied consistently and thoroughly. In doing so, reviews must include the relevant lifecycle stages of the product. Consequently, depending on the assessment, this is an opportunity to maintain or improve the safety system.

Neither safety or functional safety is present without considering the comlpete system and also the environment with which it interacts. In short, Functional Safety is inherently end-to-end in scope. Modern systems often have software intensively commanding and also controlling safety-critical functions. Therefore, software functionality and also correct software behaviour must be part of the Functional safety engineering effort to ensure acceptable safety risk at the system level.