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Functional Safety

Background

The Functional Safety Special Interest Group (FS-SIG) is responsible for promoting awareness and understanding of functional safety, it is the Institutes interface with the review committees for IEC 61508, 61511, 62061 and CDOIF and other functional safety related UK and European Regulations. These areas continue to develop and represent significant challenges for guidance and understanding.

The FS-SIG is the body that represents the Institute in reviewing any functional safety related submissions that it receives as papers or technical notes. It also issues its own briefing notes to help its members interoperate the guidance and standards.

The SIG is authorised to constitute working groups to help fulfil its purpose.

 

Members & Leadership Team

Membership is drawn from a wide spectrum including end users, regulators, vendors, contractors and consultants, so that we may represent a broad range of interests in safety related matters.  Many SIG members also belong to other professional bodies and this promotes an exchange of views and information throughout the discipline.

The SIG organises conferences, workshops and seminars and publishes material to support the FS discipline.

FS-SIG remit is to review, promote, organise and develop:

  1. Events & Communications

events such as conferences and SIG network briefings - Click Here!

  1. Standards & Guidance

contributing to development and dissemination of standards and related guidance

  1. Professional Registration

responsible for overseeing the administration of the Registered Functional Safety Engineer qualification.

Leadership Team

Harvey T. Dearden

Independent consulting engineer active in the process sector. Associate Engineering Director with HTS Engineering Group Ltd. Developer of SISSuite software toolset. Author of ‘Functional Safety In Practice’ and ‘Professional Engineering Practice’.

David R. Ransome

Retired consulting engineer Ex. Chairman and Director with P & I Design Ltd. Specialising in Functional Safety, previous member of many safety committees and work-groups. TuV Rheinland Functional Safety Expert and Retired Registered Functional Safety Engineer.

Coin Easton

Independant Safety Consultant in the process and machinery sector. TuV Rheinland Senior Functional Safety Expert and CASS Registered Functional Safety Assessor at Prosalus Limited.

Steve Kriescher

A Chartered Instrument Engineer specialising in functional safety in the process industry and energy sector.

David Green

Chartered Engineer with extensive on-site engineering experience in upper tier COMAH facilities, for more than 20 years. A qualified Funtional Safety & Machinery Safety Engineer with cross industry, full safety lifecycle experience in on-site and consultancy roles. Represents the InstMC on the Machinery Safety BSi committee MCE/3.

Nick Oliver

Chartered Instrument Engineer and lead Technical Authority for a major UK gas supplier, extensive on-site engineering experience in upper tier COMAH facilities and offshore platforms with 30+ years oil and gas experience. A qualified Functional Safety & Cyber Security Engineer with cross industry experience of power generation, gas distribution and marine facility’s, full safety lifecycle experience.

Peter Davidson

Peter is the Executive Director of the Tank Storage Association (TSA). The TSA provides advocacy and lobbying on behalf of the terminals/bulk storage sector, and with promoting process safety leadership, helping members achieve excellence in this area and work toward becoming high reliability organisations. Peter worked on the response to the 2005 Buncefield explosion and fires, and on the subsequent Process Safety Leadership Group final report recommendations.  Peter was formerly the Regulatory Compliance Manager for ABB Automation in the UK, specialising in the design and delivery of safety and automation systems to highly regulated industries, including the Oil and Gas, Petrochemical, Pharmaceutical and Nuclear sectors.

 

 

SIG Roles & Activities

  • To provide impartial advice on behalf of the Institute on functional safety related matters.
  • To comment on any functional safety related submissions received by the Institute,
  • To liaise as appropriate with other InstMC SIGs.
  • To raise the profile of the InstMC by liaising with other bodies as appropriate
  • To organise conferences, workshops and seminars on functional safety topics, and to prepare papers for publication. These may be self-initiated, by agreement with other SIG or Local Sections, or by co-sponsorship with other bodies where appropriate.

Governance

  • The running of the SIG is to be overseen by a steering group comprised of the chairs from the SIG working groups and other individuals (offering useful skills and/or additional network access) that the group sees fit to co-opt.
  • The chair of the steering group is to be elected by the group from amongst its members.
  • Each working group will have a chair nominated by its members.
  • Chairs will be elected for a period of 3 years (or the WG duration if less).  Chairs may serve two consecutive terms, but may only serve in that capacity beyond two terms if there is no other suitable and willing candidate.
  • The steering group and working groups should be limited in size to the number of people that are appropriate for them to effectively prosecute their business.  The size of working groups shall be no larger than agreed with the steering group.  If appropriate, additional members may be recruited as corresponding members of the WG.
  • The steering group will be accountable to the trustees for the expenses incurred in the management of the SIG, and budgets for the SIG are to be agreed with the CEO.
  • The steering group will be accountable to the trustees (via the Learned Society Board) for proper execution of its business in accordance with its terms of reference (which shall be agreed with the LSB).
  • Legitimate expenses may be claimed (in accordance with InstMC expenses policy) for steering group and working group management meetings, but not for meetings or events open to the wider SIG membership.
  • Criteria for eligibility to join working groups will be agreed with the steering group.  Vacancies will be advertised to the SIG membership.
  • Working Groups shall devise and implement a succession plan to ensure the appropriate balance and number of team members is maintained and that there is regular turnover of the WG membership.
 

 

Get Involved

  • Membership of the SIG is automatically open to any individual member or Companion Company of the InstMC on application.
  • SIG members are automatically eligible to apply to fill vacancies on the steering committee.  Exceptionally*, applications will be accepted from other individuals and representatives of corporate bodies by agreement of the chair of the SIG or the chair of any of its working groups.  Individuals or companies wishing to join are invited to contact the chair, making clear whether or not they are InstMC members.  The steering committee will strive to maintain a balance of representation across relevant sectors. The other requirement is a willingness to share in the work of the SIG as opportunities arise.

* typically a widely recognised authority in the field

For more information on InstMC membership click on the logo below:

Knowledge sharing is key. The FS SIG webpage is the conduit for making contacts and a LinkedIn Group is available for member-only content.

Click on LinkedIn logo below to visit our FS-SIG page.

 

Registered Functional Safety Engineer

If you are an experienced engineer working in the functional safety discipline, the InstMC Registered Functional Safety Engineer qualification could be the right choice for you. 

For more details click here!

To view the register of InstMC Registered Functional Safety Engineers click here!