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§ 15 Safety functions and safety systems

Facilities shall be equipped with the necessary safety functions which at all times can
  1. detect abnormal conditions
  2. prevent abnormal conditions from developing into hazard and accident situations
  3. mitigate the damage caused by accidents.
Requirements for the performance of security functions shall be established.
The status of active safety features shall be available in the control room.
The measures and limitations necessary to maintain the barrier function of safety systems in the event of bridging, disconnection or other impairment, shall be determined in advance. The compensatory measures shall be implemented as soon as possible when such impairment occurs.
The status of safety systems shall be known to relevant personnel at all times.
Section last changed: 25 February 2020

By safety functions as mentioned in the first subsection, is meant technical barrier elements that shall reduce the possibility of specific failures, hazard and accident situations occurring, or which limit or prevent harm or inconveniences. Safety functions can be divided into active and passive.
For designing active safety functions as mentioned in the first subsection, the standards IEC 61508 and ISO 13849 should be used. For the active safety functions to be able to fulfil their functions at all times, as mentioned in the first subsection, they should be designed so that they can be tested and maintained without compromising the performance of the functions.
To determine the performance of safety functions as mentioned in the second subsection, the IEC 61508 standard should be used where electrical, electronic and programmable electronic systems are used in the design of the functions.
By safety systems as mentioned in the fourth subsection, is meant technical barrier elements that are realized in a common system. The requirement in the fourth subsection means that the measures and limitations shall lead to a risk reduction that is relevant and proportionate to the barrier functions that are affected. In order to fulfil the requirements of the measures and limitations, the standards IEC 61508-1 Chapter 7.7 and IEC 61508-2 Chapter 7.6 should be used for electrical, electronic and programmable electronic safety systems.