Reading material: Functional Safety for Managers

Functional safety consultancy exida has published a new book on functional safety for managers and what managers need to know.

According to exida, experience has shown that in many companies, management teams have little or no understanding of functional or process safety requirements. Process safety is driven by corporate culture, which is often not aligned with functional safety requirements, such as: openness, fostering a learning culture and implementing Functional Safety Management (FSM), all of which have a direct bearing on process safety. Managers need to be aware of this and to understand the role they play in ensuring process and functional safety is maintained.

Functional Safety for Managers: What Managers Need to Know, by Dr Stephen N Gandy, is described as a practical guide that clearly presents and explains the importance of FSM, as well as having well-defined key performance indicators to track and manage performance.

These goals are achieved by:

• developing FSM processes and procedures that are easily understood and followed, to manage and maintain functional safety;
• having a well-defined and implemented Functional Safety Management Plan (FSMP), with the accompanying functional safety audits and functional safety assessments to ensure compliance with IEC 61511;
• defining roles, responsibilities and competencies of those individuals with key safety lifecycle responsibilities;
• defining leading and lagging indicators for management to track and monitor performance to maintain functional safety;
• understanding the importance of preventative maintenance of Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) in maintaining safety.
   

exida says managers should consider the techniques and methodology defined in this book as a guide to help with increasing knowledge and competency.

To pre-order, click here.