Confusion over safety

Abstract

Overcoming the barriers to successful implementation of electrical safety in manufacturing plants. Process industry managers responsible for safety in manufacturing plants have had their work cut out in recent years. Several factors have contributed to confusion across engineering disciplines on the necessary steps in ensuring manufacturing plants are as safe as they can possibly be. The paper describes the IEC 61508, an international standard that was developed with the express aim of providing a methodical approach to demonstrating the fitness for purpose of safety systems. As safety systems have become more complex, so the need has grown to provide confidence that they perform in the intended manner whenever they are called upon to do so. IEC 61508 provides a framework for all parties to work together to ensure that systems operate to the required level of integrity. However, the complexity that IEC 61508 was designed to address has led to the standard itself being complex and impenetrable to the uninitiated.