Don’t keep safety a secret – an introductory guide to functional safety - Blog 1

[karenkoh]

Managing operational risk is one of the most demanding aspects of achieving safe, reliable, and profitable operations for any company working in high-hazard industries.

Getting safety wrong in high-hazard industries is not an option.  Nothing is more important than safety because incidents:

• Cost money
• Disrupt reliable operations
• Impact the environment
• Can result in massive damage
• May cause loss of life
• Threaten an organizations reputation and very existence.

And yet, a worrying trend is happening. Safety incidents are rising despite a decrease in the total number of working hours[1].

[1] Source: International Oil and Gas Producers ‘Safety performance indicators – 2022 data’.

After 15 years working in high hazard industries delivering safety system projects, I am now considered a ‘mid-career professional’.  When I was once the ‘newbie’ now there is a new generation of ‘early-career professionals’ on the same journey, finding their way, asking many of the same questions I once asked when I started.

While a lot has changed in 15 years, fantastic technology advances, the rise of digital software tools and applications, and cyber security concerns, the functional safety basics remain the same.  

When I started my career, I was lucky.  There were lots of experts with expertise and experience to learn from.  They would take the time to sit down with me and patiently explain why, what, how.  But most of those experienced people have retired, and a new generation are now looking to me for my expertise, asking me the same questions that I asked when I first started.

What I thought I would do was share some of my learnings and experiences for a whole new generation.  While the functional safety domain is “an inch wide and a mile deep”, and the devil is in the detail, I would encourage anyone to add comments, share experiences, and help others to learn for the greater good.

In the next blog, we will look at the evolution of the functional safety standards including IEC61508 and IEC61511.