Systems safety engineering competence

Finally, there is a general lack of expertise in the area of software system safety. Not only are there grossly insufficient numbers of qualified system safety engineers with software safety credentials but also very few recognized textbooks, seminars, university programs, or competent consultants are available. The lack of technical competence in this area seems to span the entire system safety community. 

Demand that competent, responsible, qualified engineers are assigned within the organization, as well as in any contractor organizations, to manage the system safety program. 

When it comes to safety-critical systems, engineering competence is basic and essential however, there are weaknesses with regard to providing a measure of a company s engineering competence that need to be addressed. There are also issues over how safety work should be outsourced when the need arises (or even i/it should). 

A position paper issued in 2005 and titled Auditor Competency for Assessing Occupational Health Safety Management Systems is available on the Internet. Sponsoring organizations are the American Society of Safety Engineers, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Board of Certified Safety Professionals, and the American Board of Industrial Hygiene. 

A complex PEM electrolysis system with 100 MW is definitely more than a big electrolysis stack and a gathering of components. It must rather be integration of design, material selection and technical engineering on one hand and the interaction of electrochemical and electro technical subsystems on the other hand. Additional big-style production know-how, a transparent security and safety concept as well as an experienced and competent commissioning and service organization must be available. Paired with over 15 years of experience in research and development of PEM electrolysis these factors build a solid fundament for the realization at Siemens. 

Activity performed by a competent senior engineer to determine if the safety system meets the specification and actually achieves functional safety (freedom from unacceptable risk). This assessment is an important part of reducing systematic failures. It must be performed at least after commissioning and validation but before the hazard is present. 

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is an international association representing offshore and marine engineering companies. IMCA has two core activities, one focusing on health, safety, and the environment and the other on training and competence. These activities are divided into the four technical divisions of marine vessels, diving, offshore survey, and remote systems. Within these areas, IMCA publishes safety guidance documents, technical reports, and fact sheets for the marine contracting sector. It also collects and reports data on... 

The Competent Authority should ensure that safety reports submitted under the COMAFI Regulations contain information to demonstrate that good practice in human and organisational design, operation, maintenance and testing is implemented as rigorously as for control and environmental protection engineering systems. 

This places much emphasis on the engineering of sufficient safety integrity into the safety-related systems to ensure that risks affected by those systems are reduced to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP). There are many methods and techniques for achieving this. The lEC standard 61508 Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems, for example, advocates a risk-based approach to determining the required safety performance of safety-related systems, and does so in the context of an overall safety life cycle. The success in the implementation of such an approach demands a suitable level of competence in the engineers involved in the determination of the safety requirements and in the realisation of such systems. 

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