The IEC describes itself as “the world’s leading organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as electrotechnology. Wherever you find electricity and electronics, you find the IEC supporting safety and performance, the environment, electrical energy efficiency and renewable energies.”

The IEC also manages conformity assessment systems that certify that equipment, systems or components conform to its International Standards.

Buy the IEC61508 standard online directly from IEC

IEC61508 may be complex, but the book claims to overcome that complexity. It introduces the standard in the context of safety in general, then moves on to give practical advice about implementation and obtaining certification. It also explains how IEC61508 relates to second tier standards and related guidance, such as IEC61511, 61513, UKOOA, ISA S84.01 and DIN standards, among others. The authors illustrate their explanations with examples, and four case studies with exercises set the information in context. Templates and checklists for drawing up your own implementation plan and information on self-certification are also provided.

The publishers say that as Functional Safety is applicable to many industries, Functional Safety in its previous edition proved to be an invaluable reference for professionals from a variety of industries, such as project, instrumentation, design and control engineering as well as the oil and gas, chemical, rail, power generation, nuclear, aircraft, and automotive sectirs.

The new edition includes a new chapter on IEC 61511, the process sector standard, published since the first edition. The text has been updated throughout in light of the authors recent experience and two case studies have been added.

Review of the previous edition: “As a straightforward guide to IEC 61508 this book will be difficult to surpass. I can’t remember recommending a book to my peers and colleagues with so much enthusiasm; it really is a reference book worth having” – Malcolm Warren in Measurement and Control.

More details on Functional Safety: A Straightforward Guide to Applying IEC 61508 and Related Standards at Amazon UK
More details on Functional Safety: A Straightforward Guide to Applying IEC 61508 and Related Standards at Amazon USA

Here’s a very nice explanatory guide to IEC61508 which again, goes back a while, but has some good material in it. MTL’s An introduction to Functional Safety and IEC 61508 points out that the benefits to users are that a more scientific, numeric approach to specifying and designing safety systems is possible; the nature of the risk can be quantified; and a protective system appropriate to the risk can be designed. It means that under- or over-specifying of protective systems is less likely and, in many cases, a less expensive solution can be shown to provide adequate protection.

The Application Note is intended to provide a brief introduction to the IEC61508 standard and to illustrate how it is applied, although it does not claim to be a complete interpretation of the standard – not in just 16 pages!

Download your free Functional Safety Application Note