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The FFSIS project, under the direction of the Fieldbus Foundation's Technical Steering Committee, involves leading device suppliers and end users from around the world, including prominent companies such as Exxon Mobil, Saudi Aramco, Shell Global Solutions and Dupont. Many of the project participants support the ISA SP84 work, which is developing U.S. industry guidelines incorporating the IEC 61511 standard, which addresses the application of safety instrumented systems for the process industries; and the IEC 61508 standard, which covers all safety-related systems that are electrotechnical in nature (i.e. electromechanical systems, solid-state electronic systems and computer-based systems).

The FFSIS project team will prepare a FOUNDATION™ fieldbus safety requirements specification and safety manual according to the IEC 61508 guidelines. End users taking part in the initiative will develop an end user safety manual incorporating IEC 61511 requirements.

According to David A. Glanzer, Fieldbus Foundation director of technology development, the FFSIS project will enable end users to take advantage of open fieldbus technologies to improve integration and interoperability of safety instrumentation, while reducing system costs.

" FOUNDATION™ fieldbus, with its industry-proven distributed function blocks and open communications protocol, is an ideal platform for advancing standards-based safety system technology," said Glanzer. "The foundation's board of directors approved a program last October to develop FOUNDATION™ fieldbus technical specifications for safety instrumented systems. The response from our membership was overwhelming, and the team kickoff meeting was held in January to develop the detailed project development schedule."

As part of the FFSIS work, the Fieldbus Foundation and device manufacturers will develop safety concepts and products which comply with IEC 61508, and third-party certifiers will evaluate the Safety Integrity Level (SIL) capability of suppliers' instruments based on the standard. In addition, end users will evaluate the safety requirements for their shutdown systems according to the IEC 61511 requirements.

Glanzer believes the industry will benefit from concepts resulting from collaboration between the supplier and end user communities on the FFSIS project.

About the Fieldbus Foundation™
The Fieldbus Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of nearly 200 leading process and manufacturing automation companies worldwide whose major purpose is to provide an open and neutral environment for the development of a single, international, interoperable fieldbus. In this environment, end users, manufacturers, universities and research organizations are working together to develop the technology, provide development tools, support and training, coordinate field trials and demonstrations, and enable product interoperability. Visit their web site at www.fieldbus.org.