Navigating Functional Safety

Functional safety ensures that safety-related systems respond reliably under defined conditions. In industries such as the process industries, energy sector and rail industry, functional safety supports safe operation, compliance with regulatory requirements and the long-term performance of industrial assets.

Safety-related systems continuously monitor relevant process conditions. When a critical situation is detected, predefined safety functions automatically initiate the required measures, ranging from alarms and emergency shutdowns to the isolation of plant sections. This helps bring the plant to a safe state or maintain it in a safe state.

As industrial plants and processes become increasingly complex, managing risk reliably becomes more important. Functional safety helps protect people, assets and the environment, supports compliance with regulatory requirements and contributes to avoiding unplanned downtime and its consequences.

Functional safety does not end with system design and implementation. It spans the entire safety lifecycle, from risk assessment and specification through validation and operation to maintenance, testing and modification. This helps ensure that safety functions continue to perform as intended throughout the lifecycle.

Functional safety depends on safety-related systems operating reliably and being protected against unauthorised access or manipulation. This is where OT Security plays an important role. It helps protect industrial control and automation systems against cyber threats and tampering. An attack on these systems can affect not only data and processes, but also the functional safety of a plant. As industrial systems become increasingly connected, the relationship between functional safety and security continues to grow in importance.