Article | REF: D5560 V1

SIL mastery and certification management - Railway sector

Author: Jean-Louis BOULANGER

Publication date: November 10, 2011

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ABSTRACT

In several sectors, including the railway sector, standards impose to prove the security of the system implemented called SIL (Safety Integrity Level). These standards are completed by decrees and European or national orders which specify the rules to b respected. After presenting these standards, this article focuses on the basic method for the allocation of security levels as it is applied in rail signaling. It analyses the aspects regarding assessment and certification through the study of the CENELEC standards (complying with security, new requirements) and CEI/IEC.

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 INTRODUCTION

Critical and safe systems are characterized by the fact that a failure can have serious consequences for human life, the economy and/or the environment. In a number of fields, including railways, there are standards which require the demonstration of the safety of the system. These standards are supplemented by European and/or national decrees and orders which describe the rules to be respected.

These standards recommend a separation of roles and responsibilities:

  • a team is in charge of system implementation (development, verification and validation);

  • while another is in charge of allocating SILs and demonstrating system safety (safety studies, safety documentation and analysis of work completeness);

  • a third team, independent of the other two, is responsible for assessing the Safety Integrity Level (SIL) actually achieved. The assessment may or may not be formalized in the form of a certificate.

The railway reference system is made up of specific standards (CENELEC EN 50126, EN 50128 and EN 50129) which have been adapted from the generic IEC/IEC 61508 standard.

The IEC/IEC 61508 standard characterizes the requirements for demonstrating the safety of an electrical/electronic/programmable electronic system. This standard has been adapted for use in various fields (railway, automotive, etc.). IEC/IEC 61511 is dedicated to certified PLCs using standardized languages (IEC/IEC 1131).

This dossier successively describes :

  • the normative context ;

  • the process of allocating security levels from the impact of the feared event on the system to the lowest-level hardware and software elements;

  • assessment and certification ;

  • an introduction to the use of related standards: IEC/IEC 61508 and IEC/IEC 61511.

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SIL control and certificate management