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ISA84 safety certificate builds competence

There is an increased emphasis on safety in today’s process facilities. That is why ISA and the Automation Standards Compliance Institute are introducing three certificate programs that will increase knowledge and awareness of the ISA84 standard on safety instrumented systems, or SIS.

Each certificate program includes specialized training on ISA84 and an exam offered through Prometric testing centers.

The classes are intended for professionals involved in and responsible for SIS in a facility, such as electrical engineers, control systems engineers, and process automation engineers.

“Users and contractors can buy the greatest certified systems out there, but if they don’t put them together and use them properly, industry will not be any safer. The key to safety is management support of their people; their knowledge of what to do and how to do it,” said Paul Gruhn, training manager at ICS Triplex in Houston, as well as the primary instructor for the certificate courses and one of the team of eight people putting the exams together.

“The three certificates together will help educate and upgrade employees’ knowledge about safety instrumented systems, which we hope will lead to a safer plant environment,” said Dale Lee, ISA’s director of education. “It will also help confirm to hiring managers that candidates have some knowledge about safety instrumented systems.”

The ISA84 (IEC 61511) standard on safety systems in the process industry says people must be competent and qualified, in terms of engineering knowledge, training, and experience, such as process, logic system technology, field devices, regulations, and leadership skills. “One way of confirming people’s qualifications is for them to take courses from recognized organizations and take exams proving that they’ve learned the material,” Gruhn said. “Two organizations exist that have been doing this for up to seven years,” he said. “But ISA (and the new Automation Standards Compliance Institute) has the size, visibility, recognition, marketing and sales muscle, multi-company, and multi-industry involvement to do this very effectively.”

“The work of the ISA84 standards committee involves leading experts who agree ISA should offer this type of training to improve understanding and implementation of the standard,” Lee said. “Those involved with writing the ISA84 standard represent major companies in the automation safety realm, so their involvement with the certificate could increase the marketability of professionals who take the classes and pass the exam.”

“Some management might think all this is a waste of time, effort, and money,” Gruhn said. “However, multiple studies have shown just the opposite; improving safety improves productivity. What employers can get out of all this is safer plants that get it right the first time, run with higher productivity, and lower total costs.”

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Safety, Security groups form joint working group

Would you rather learn from the mistakes of others, or make them all yourself? We learn better when we make our own mistakes, but when it comes to the safety and security of high-risk process facilities, it is important we learn from the mistakes of others. That is the collective knowledge that standards are built on. Or would you rather ignore the lessons of others and learn from the investigation after a major accident when your company appears on the evening news? Burying your head in the sand is not the appropriate action to take.

Similarly, do you want to reinvent the wheel for every project you are involved with? Doesn’t it make sense to use the combined knowledge that already exists?

Both of these thoughts apply to the new joint working group between the ISA84 and ISA99 standards committee.

The ISA99 standard on industrial automation and control systems security and the ISA84 standards on safety instrumented systems will join efforts to form a working group under ISA99 on safety and security. Working Group 7 (WG7): Safety and Security of Industrial Automation and Control Systems will help promote greater awareness of the impact of cyber security issues on the safe operation of industrial processes.

ISA84 has existed for decades. The first edition of the ISA84 standard was released in 1996, the second in 2004. The ISA99 standard on control system security is a bit more recent. The first edition of part 1 of the ISA99 standard was released in 2007. Part 2 was released in 2009. (More parts will follow.) Considering the prevalence of Windows and off-the-shelf IT components used in today’s control systems, and the known security weakness with both, security is a real concern. The rising popularity of wireless devices raises even more issues.

Just as one industry, culture, or society can learn from another (something I like to call “cross-pollenization of knowledge”), standards committees can also learn from each other.

Safety and security share a number of similar concepts. For example, the greater the level of risk in a process, the better the safety instrumented systems that will be needed to control it. Similarly, the greater the level of risk of a security breach, the stronger the measures will be needed to combat it.

ISA99 will investigate how to protect industrial processes against systematic and intentional threats, which can result in dangerous failures, and therein lies the challenge of protecting these systems; they are very different from traditional IT security.

The ISA84 committee represents one of the most significant efforts in functional safety, and has been foundational in the downward trend of dangerous failures in industrial automation.

The term used to define the performance of safety instrumented systems is SIL (safety integrity level). It starts with a process hazard analysis, techniques developed decades ago by organizations other than ISA. There are a variety of different techniques used around the world to determine or select what level of performance each safety instrumented function will need. Integrity levels (1-4) then align with performance requirements. The higher the number, the greater the safety performance (i.e., the smaller the probability of failure on demand) required of the safety instrumented function. Also, the higher the integrity level, the more complicated and expensive the system will be.

The term adopted to define the robustness of security measures is SAL (security assurance level). Techniques will be developed to identify threats, assess their risk, define assurance levels, and then prescribe the measures needed to satisfy the requirements for each level. The higher the level, the greater the risk, and the more difficult and expensive it will be to control it.

Safety people need to learn from security people. Security people need to learn from safety people. A joint working group between the two committees will attempt the proverbial group Vulcan mind-meld so they can cross-pollinate and accomplish their tasks in the most expedient manner.

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2010 Safety and Security Symposium coming soon

Sponsored by the ISA Safety Division, the 2010 Industrial Automation Safety and Security Symposium will provide an in-depth look at today’s safety technologies and procedures associated with identifying and mitigating safety hazards in industrial environments. This symposium will focus not only on Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) topics, but also include material on cyber security and associated challenges in designing and implementing SIS and process automation solutions. We are excited to deliver technical demonstrations and presentations that will challenge attendees and presenters alike, providing practical and useful guidance for designing industrial processes, selecting SIS, and protecting these systems against cyber threats and unsafe dangerous failures alike.

This event is intended to create a forum where paper presentations and panel discussions transfer information from leaders and experts on safety and control to industry professionals. A full program will include expert-led sessions, social functions, and more at the Astor Crowne Plaza in the French Quarter. Add value your conference experience with ISA Training on 28 April.

For more information, visit www.isa.org/safetysymp.

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