Safety-oriented solutions in industrial environments | Topics
Functional safety and data security are two aspects of safety that are becoming increasingly important in the development of devices and systems.
Strict guidelines and standards must be adhered to during development, verification, validation and throughout the entire life cycle of a sub-assembly in distributed automation. We support you in your development with our expertise. In addition, we also offer consultancy services and workshops – either at your premises or at the certification body.
We help you make your solution SAFE!
So what do the terms ‘safety’ and ‘security’ actually mean, and what do we need to bear in mind and take into account during development?
Functional safety
Functional safety serves to protect human life and health and to safeguard the environment against hazards that may arise from machinery and plant.
The relevant EU directives (e.g. the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC) define the requirements necessary to achieve a uniform level of protection within the EU. These become legally binding through transposition into national law. The annex to the Machinery Directive lists harmonised standards which must be applied during development, depending on the product.
For functional safety, these include, for example, the standards DIN EN ISO 13849 and DIN EN 61062. These refer to the fundamental safety standard IEC 61508 for electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems (E/E/PE systems).
Other standards outside the scope of the Machinery Directive for various fields of application (e.g. DIN EN 50128, DIN EN 50129 for railway applications, ISO 26262 for the automotive sector) impose similar requirements on the development of functionally safe control systems.
Safety Integrity Level (SIL according to IEC 61508)
A comprehensive catalogue of measures defines how a specific safety level can be achieved. For each safety function, a Safety Integrity Level (SIL according to IEC 61508) or Performance Level (PL according to ISO 13849) is determined, depending on the standard. This serves as a measure of the residual risk.
Demonstrating the measures and activities undertaken to achieve a specific SIL or PL is of particular importance. The development process must be structured in such a way that the prerequisites are met to ensure a safe product is produced. A quality management system (e.g. in accordance with ISO 9001) must be in place. The aim is to prevent systematic and random errors in the individual product life cycle phases (specification, concept, design, verification and validation, manufacture, operation, decommissioning and disposal).
Documentation
The scope of the documentation to be produced is far greater than in ‘normal’ development. The following documents, for example, are produced during the individual phases of development:
- Requirements specification
- Safety concept
- Architectural design
- Hardware and software specifications
- Software component specification
- Design documents (circuit diagrams, layout, simulations, construction drawings)
- Test plans and test specifications for hardware type testing, software testing, integration testing, EMC and environmental testing
- Verification and validation documentation
- FSM (Functional Safety Management) documents, such as the verification and validation plan (V&V plan, safety case)
- Operating manuals and user documentation
- Documentation package for production roll-out and production testing
We develop your functionally safe electronic control systems and support you every step of the way – from the initial idea to the finished solution.
We typically carry out development in accordance with the V-Model.
As an alternative to full-scale development, we can also take on specific tasks within your development project. For example, you can entrust us with the development of safety-related software or hardware as a standalone task.
Furthermore, we are also on hand to provide consultancy services and assist with the assessment process at the relevant bodies (e.g. TÜV).
We use the “Polarion” document management system to create documentation. This enables us to meet and monitor the standards’ requirements regarding the traceability of requirements and the traceability of test steps back to those requirements.
For unit tests (white-box tests) in the software, we use the “Tessy” testing system. With the help of this tool, we measure, for example, the test coverage required by the standards (e.g. code coverage C0, C1, C2; branch coverage). The test results from the test run are automatically imported into “Polarion” and are available there for documentation purposes.
Of course, we also carry out black-box testing, interface testing, integration testing and performance testing.
Data security
Data security concerns the confidentiality of data and data protection. Here, for example, encryption technologies and authentication mechanisms are used to ensure the confidentiality of data or to identify a person or machine and verify authorisation. Different standards apply in this area (e.g. DIN EN IEC 62443).
With Industry 4.0 and the resulting increase in connectivity, the importance of data security is growing. It is therefore a key task to ensure functional safety through data security. This link is established in ISO 61508 by a reference to IEC 62443.
Priority is given to assessing a solution’s resistance to attacks right from the design phase – potential threats are identified and countermeasures defined.
Your solution – SAFE with us
SYS TEC electronic has demonstrated relevant expertise through safety-related projects in the industrial, rail and medical technology sectors.
We offer consultancy, advisory services and workshops delivered by our developers at SYS TEC electronic, either at our headquarters in Heinsdorfergrund, at your premises or at the certification body.
We oversee the design and development of your solution in all areas, right from the initial idea. Do you need a specialist for a specific part of your development? Of course, we’d be happy to help you with that too!
