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September 2007 | Safety Systems | Volume 17 Number 1 |
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The Health and Safety Executive, working in partnership with the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET) and the British Computer Society (BCS), has recently published guidance to help companies manage the competence of their staff who are involved with electronic safety-related systems (e.g. fly-by-wire in aircraft, railway signalling systems, shutdown systems in the petrochemical industry, and offshore and safeguarding arrangements for machinery and industrial automation).
Such systems are increasingly important in modern society, and their functionality and complexity are ever increasing. The potential safety and economic benefits of such systems are significant, but it is vital that, if they are to be realised, those involved in any activity associated with such systems are adequately competent for the tasks they have to perform.
The new publication Managing Competence for Safety-related Systems provides the essential requirements for a successful competence management system (CMS) suitable for all staff at all levels of responsibility within organisations working on safety-related systems.
Following the guidance will not only enable organisations to meet the legal requirements for competence within Great Britain, but it will also help them to develop and utilise the skills of their staff. Efforts have been made to keep the guidance both brief and simple.
The guidance is available free on the internet and may be downloaded from the website of the HSE (click here), the IET, or the BCS. It is aimed at those responsible for managing and assuring the competence of individuals and teams that might have an impact on the functional safety of safety-related systems.
The document identifies four phases for the planning and development of a competence management system, and for these four phases, 15 principles have been developed.
To assist with the implementation of the guidance, detailed supplementary guidance material is provided as separate and complementary electronic document.
The guidance took two years to develop and builds on the previous competency work of the IET, BCS and HSE.
The publication ‘Competence Criteria for Safety-Related System Practitioners’ is also being made available for internet download (www.theiet.org). Originally commissioned by the HSE, jointly developed by the BCS and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (the precursor of the IET), and published in 1999 by the IEE, the new electronic version has been re-written to dovetail in with publication of
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