61508 is not a product standard. It relates to systems that provide System Safety where a portion of the system is electrical, electronic, or programmable.
System Safety as a discipline looks at the severity of hazards that are present if something fails to perform as designed, the likely hood of it occurring, assessing if the risk is acceptable and if its not take mitigation steps to reduce the risk. 61508 provides special considerations when the mitigation is provided by Electrical, Electronic or Programmable. For example; It has guidance on the software development rigor necessary for the different Safety Integrity Levels. An RCD device provides a safety function for sure but a single device is explicitly not covered. Below is an excerpt from the standard scope. does not cover E/E/PE syst ems where – a single E/E/PE system is capable of providing the necessary risk reduction, Dave Clement From: Jim Eichner <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 11:14:06 AM Subject: RE: Functional Safety and the LVD Those systems are covered, but there’s nothing that excludes products. Take for example an RCD device. Clearly its function is safety-related. Why wouldn’t the 61508 series be relevant? Jim Eichn er, P.Eng. Compliance Engineering Manager Xantrex Technology Inc. e-mail: [email protected] web: www.xantrex.com <http://www.xantrex.com/> Any opinions expressed are those of my invisible friend. Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. From: David Clement [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2008 2:12 PM To: Jim Eichner; [email protected] Subject: Re: Functional Safety and the LVD 61508 deals with electrical, electronic and program devices and systems that provide safety such as rail road signaling, safety shut down systems in power plants, machinery interlocks. It has several in depth sections on software that is used in systems that provide functional safety. I don't see it being called out as part of a product safety directive. Dave Clement From: Jim Eichner <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 1:44:53 PM Subject: Functional Safety and the LVD A search of the latest lis t of standards under the LVD does not turn up any hits on EN61508, yet it would seem natural for this standard to be considered relevant under the LVD. I'm not looking for the added work that would imply, but I do need to know if it's coming. Any thoughts or inside knowledge if this is coming our way? Thanks, Jim Eichner, P.Eng. Compliance Engineering Manager Xantrex Technology Inc. e-mail: [email protected] web: www.xantrex.com Any opinions expressed are those of my invisible friend. Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosur e or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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