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TÜV Certifies Yokogawa System Center Europe's Compliance with IEC61508
Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its subsidiary in the Netherlands, Yokogawa System Center Europe B.V. (Yokogawa SCE), has been certified by TÜV Rheinland as being compliant with the IEC 61508 international safety standard.
Yokogawa SCE, located in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, supplies integrated control and safety systems, including the ProSafe-PLC® programmable safety system, which can safeguard industrial applications requiring a safety integrity level (SIL) rating up to SIL3, and the ProSafe-SLS® inherently fail-safe solid state system (core transistor logic), which can safeguard applications requiring a SIL 4 rating.
When the IEC 61508 international standard was released, Yokogawa SCE decided to seek compliance by bringing its process for realizing safety systems in line with the standard's requirements for Functional Safety Management. Yokogawa SCE has actively participated in the realization of this standard and continues to support its maintenance committee. The company has brought a team of safety experts together in a department that operates fully independently of the realization process. Safety experts are recognized as such if they can demonstrate extensive experience in the area of industrial safety, with or without formal certification (CFSE). These experts execute assessments of all safety systems before delivery. They also perform periodical safety audits of the realization process. These assessments are completed with a safety assessment certificate that guarantees both the achieved safety integrity level and compliance with the IEC 61508 standard.
With over 40 years' experience in safeguarding applications in such industries as oil, gas, chemical, and power, Yokogawa SCE can be relied on to consistently implement safety systems in a safe manner. The depth and consistency of its verification and validation processes back up its claim to have reduced implied systematic failures to almost zero.
TÜV Rheinland examined Yokogawa SCE's procedures, documentation and way of working, and executed an audit judging its claim to IEC 61508 compliance. Yokogawa SCE was subsequently awarded a certificate declaring the compliance of its Functional Safety Management system with IEC 61508. The certificate covers issues like management of functional safety, documentation, functional safety assessment and company specific overall lifecycle phases. Yokogawa SCE's safety involvement is not restricted to the realization phase, but also includes installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance, repair, modification and retrofit – all of which must be demonstrated by an auditable trail.
IEC 61508 certification by TÜV represents a significant new industrial safety milestone for Yokogawa SCE and confirms that the customers' safety applications are in good hands.
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