IEC 61511 - History

History

In 1998 the IEC, which stands for International Electrotechnical Commission published a document, IEC 61508, entitled: “Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems”. This document sets the standards for safety-related system design of hardware and software. IEC 61508 is generic functional safety standard, providing the framework and core requirements for sector specific standard. Three sector specific standards have been released using the IEC 61508 framework, IEC 61511 (process), IEC 61513 (nuclear) and IEC 62061 (manufacturing). IEC 61511 provides good engineering practices for the application of safety instrumented systems in the process sector.

In the United States ANSI/ISA 84.00.01-2004 was issued in September 2004. It primarily mirrors IEC 61511 in content with the exception that it contains a grandfathering clause:

For existing safety instrumented systems (SIS) designed and constructed in accordance with codes, standards, or practices prior to the issuance of this standard (e.g. ANSI/ISA 84.01-1996), the owner/operator shall determine and document that the equipment is designed, maintained, inspected, tested, and operated in a safe manner.

The European standards body, CENELEC, has adopted the standard as EN 61511. This means that in each of the member states of the European Union, the standard is published as a national standard. For example, in Great Britain, it is published by the national standards body, BSI, as BS EN 61511. The content of these national publications is identical to that of IEC 61511. Note, however, that 61511 is not harmonized under any directive of the European Commission.

Read more about this topic:  IEC 61511

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