Functional Safety

The Advitech Group supports many industry sectors who rely heavily on functional safety to achieve reliability and safety for hazardous equipment.

Functional safety covers a broad range of electrical, electronic and programmable logic systems that perform specific safety-related functions. Functional safety is driven by standards including AS 61508, AS IEC 61511 and AS 62061 in which systems are designed to a specified safety integrity level (SIL), based on the reliance placed upon them.

The Advitech Group has enhanced and refined its approach for SIL determination, using a quantitative method to provide a greater understanding of the hazards and potential controls, when compared to traditional qualitative risk graph methodologies. Our customers benefit from this tailored process that identifies more clearly where risk-reduction efforts will improve safety.

• Determination of safety integrity levels (SILs).
• Verification of safety-related systems against the functional safety requirements/SILs.
• Support in the progression from functional safety requirements/SILs to the resulting electrical safety-related systems.
• Development of functional safety management plans.
• Assessment of overall project management for functional safety
• Independent verification that mechanical and electrical systems have met their SIL specifications.
• NSW mine winder electrical and mechanical design verification (as part of winder registration), conforming with MDG 2005 and MDG 33.

• FS Engineer (TÜV Rheinland) certificates ­– Machinery (3557/11), Hardware/Software (8439/14) and Safety Instrumented Systems (3223/11)
• Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)
• Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ)

• Assessment of SIL capability of safety systems using fault-tree analysis, reliability block diagrams, failure modes effects and criticality analysis (FMECA).
• Verification of safety-related systems against the required SIL specifications for mine winders and ventilation fans.
• Determination of SILs for continuous miners, roof bolters, road headers, shuttle cars, drill rigs, underground substations, booster fans, conveyors and longwall equipment.
• Assessment of overall functional safety management for explosives manufacturing facilities.

Advitech’s functional safety engineers assisted a coal mine operator to determine the Safety Integrity Level (SIL) requirements for their safety systems. Their key concern was the risk of gas explosion during operation in care and maintenance mode, and the threat posed to a crew that entered the mine after periods of inactivity. Read more…

Advitech’s functional safety team supported the engineering design verification of specialised hoisting and lifting equipment, as part of a major upgrade at a prominent opera and theatre venue. Read more…