Generally, the significant hazards for equipment and any associated control system have to be identified by the specifier or developer via a hazard analysis. The analysis identifies whether functional safety is necessary to ensure adequate protection against each significant hazard. If so, then it has to be taken into account in an appropriate manner in the design. Functional safety is just one method of dealing with hazards, and other means for their elimination or reduction, such as inherent safety through design, are of primary importance.
IEC 61508 defines appropriate means for achieving functional safety in the systems it covers.
See the document Functional safety and IEC 61508 for further details.
This text contains extracts from the IEC Functional Safety Zone. All such extracts are copyright of International Electrotechnical Commission © 2005, IEC, Geneva, Switzerland. All rights reserved. IEC has no responsibility for the placement and context in which the extracts are reproduced. This notice takes precedence over any general copyright statement.
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