Functional Safety

The safety functions of process and machines

GT Engineering is member of the Technical Committees of the following Standards: IEC 61508 series, IEC 61511-1, IEC 62061 and ISO 13849-1. We support Machinery Manufacturers in the definition of the reliability level of their Safety Instrumented Functions (Process) or Safety Control Systems (Machinery). We can advise during the choice of the most suitable components and in the calculation of the SIL or PL level achieved. We organise training on all the aspects of Functional Safety and we are lecturers on Functional Safety at Brescia University and at the Milan Polytechnic (School of industrial and Information Engineering).
IEC 61508 (all parts)
This is the “mother” of all Functional safety standards used in several industries worldwide. It was written in order to allow the use of Electronic components in safety critical systems.
ISO 13849-1
It is one of the two standards used in machinery and, at least in Europe, it is the most used of the two, the other being IEC 62061. It is divided in two parts:
IEC 62061
This is the second standard applicable to machinery and, so far, the least used for the reasons explained in the book. However, there is confidence that, with the publication of the 2021 edition, there will be more and more machinery manufacturers wh...
Fault Considerations and Fault exclusion.
A Safety system has to be reliable; but how many faults should be taken into consideration? A redundant system can be designed with two sensors and two redundant final elements but, in case of two faults, we are in trouble! In general, the following ...
A brief history of Functional Safety standards
In machinery, one of the first safety standards was BS 5304 “Code of Practice for Safety of Machinery”, first published in 1975
Safety Contactors and their usage
THE DOUBT: What is a safety contactor and is their usage compulsory in a Safety related control circuit? CONSIDERATION 1: There are 2 main types of contac...
Well-tried components
THE DOUBT Why are well-tried components important in Machinery Safety?   CONSIDERATIONS The concept is defined in both ISO 13849-1 and IEC 62061. Those...
Well-tried components
IEC 62061: The new edition 2021
The second edition of IEC 62061 was published on the 22nd of March 2021. The work for the new edition started in early 2016. Some years before, a working group...
IEC 62061: The new edition 2021
Is manual reset a safety function?
THE DOUBT: Should the Reset button in a machinery be handled by a safety module, or can it be one of several inputs to the Automation PLC? The question can be ...