Panel: Field Instrumentation IEC 61508 Certification; That’s All You Need! Right?

An important phase of the safety lifecycle involves completing safety integrity level (SIL) verification calculations. This task invariably leads to passionate discussions about the validity of the reliability data that is used for the field instrumentation forming part of the safety instrumented functions (SIFs). There are several ways in which this data can be obtained and validated.
It’s very helpful for the SIS practitioner to be aware of potential pitfalls in the correct selection of reliability data for the application at hand. Furthermore, it’s often more important to know what questions and issues that need to be confirmed rather than having fixed answers applied to all situations. A panel of experts will be assembled from a variety of occupations to make brief presentations and answer questions from the audience. The panel will include members from end-user, engineering firm, manufacturer/vendor and certification companies.
The panel will also review the potential for systematic errors/faults to invalidate the SIL verification calculation and the basis for the random failure reliability data. Systematic faults aren’t always given the required attention since it’s a difficult area that covers everything from the device, design, installation, operation, maintenance, and much more.