IEC publication 61508 “Functional safety of electrical/ electronic/programmable electronic safety related systems” is probably the most widely accepted, international generic standard on functional safety. Although its roots can be traced to process industries, the intention behind the Standard has always been to provide a solid, comprehensive basis for adaptation to a wide range of industry sectors. Nevertheless, previous published research into safety engineering practices in the transport sector has shown that, in some areas, those practices have failed to recognise even some of the most basic principles of IEC 61508 (as set out in Parts 1 and 4 of the Standard) and, as a consequence, focussed far more on the reliability of safety-related systems, and not enough on their potential risk-reduction properties. This paper, which is to be published as a series of parts, starting with this overview document (Part 1), will explore how IEC 61508 could be applied directly to the transport sector, with substantially beneficial results. No attempt is made to compare those results with actual practices in the specific transport applications addressed in Parts 2 and 3 – that is left to readers with a specific interest in those applications.
Derek Fowler (Thu,) studied this question.