Why is Functional Safety Important to your Organisation? 

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Functional safety is implemented in your safety instrumented system and forms one of your layers of protection. If not managed correctly the consequences can be disastrous. Failure to manage functional safety was a contributing factor in the following major accidents: Flixborough disaster (1974), Seveso disaster (1976), Bhopal disaster (1984), Piper Alpha disaster (1988), Buncefield fire (2005), Texas City Refinery explosion (2005), and the Ludwigshafen explosion (2016).

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What is the Challenge?

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Industrial plants should employ an inherently safe design. This is not always possible so usually a safety instrumented system is added as an additional layer of protection. We need to ensure that the safety instrumented system is fit for purpose over the lifecycle of the asset. The shift of focus from project to lifecycle and from prescriptive standards to risk-based ones is one of the major changes I have seen over the last 35 years. The emphasis now, is for companies to demonstrate that they have safety under control by documenting the lifecycle activities, and that they have reduced the risk to the point where no further expenditure can be justified. Managing functional safety provides assurance that your safety instrument system will function as specified. 

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What is the Solution?

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The functional safety standards advocate a lifecycle approach as follows: create a plan for managing functional safety, allocate the safety functions, specify the requirements, design the system, install and commission, operate and maintain, monitor & assess performance, manage change, and decommission. 

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How can A&A help?

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A&A can provided consultancy services across the full functional safety lifecycle and provide training to ensure the competence of personnel. A good place to start is to download our free guide, Functional Safety: a Practical Guide by clicking on the button below.