1.1-8
1.1
IEC
615
08
IEC
620
61
IEC
623
04
IEC
615
11
IEC
615
13
Machinery sector
Medical sector
Transport sector
Power station sector
Process sector
Functional safety and legal position of EN/IEC 61508
Standards and Directives
Functional safety with EN/IEC 61508?
EN/IEC 61508 is regarded as a generic safe-
ty standard, which deals with the functional
safety of electrical, electronic and program-
mable electronic systems, irrespective of the
application.
One of the main tasks of EN/IEC 61508 is
to serve as a basis for the development of
application-oriented standards. Standards’
committees are currently busy in the areas
of machine safety with EN/IEC 62061, and
process safety with EN/EC 61511.
These sector-specifi c standards are intended
to continue the principle approaches of EN/
IEC 61508 and to implement the requirements
for the relevant application area in a suitably
practical manner.
Sector standards from EN/IEC 61508
What is the legal status of EN/IEC 61508?
As EN/IEC 61508 is not listed in the Offi cial
Journal of the European Communities for im-
plementation as a European directive, it lacks
the so-called “effect of presumption”, so if the
standard is used on its own, a control system
designer cannot presume that the relevant re-
quirements of the specifi c European directive
have been met.
Pilz GmbH & Co. KG, Felix-Wankel-Straße 2, 73760 Ostfi ldern, Germany, Telephone: +49 711 3409-0, Telefax: +49 711 3409-133, E-Mail: [email protected]
2008-09
