Specifies the safety lifecycle activities in systems comprised of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic devices with the requirements for techniques and measures that are graded against safety integrity levels, for the avoidance and control of faults and failures.

1.1 This part of IEC 61508– is intended to be used only after a thorough understanding of IEC 61508-1, which provides the overall framework for the achievement of functional safety;– applies to any safety-related system, as defined by IEC 61508-1, which contains at least one electrical, electronic or programmable electronic based component;– applies to all subsystems and their components within an E/E/PE safety-related system (including sensors, actuators and the operator interface);– specifies how to refine the information developed in accordance with IEC 61508-1, concerning the overall safety requirements and their allocation to E/E/PE safety-related systems, and specifies how the overall safety requirements are refined into E/E/PES safety functions requirements and E/E/PES safety integrity requirements;– specifies requirements for activities that are to be applied during the design and manufacture of the E/E/PE safety-related systems (i.e. establishes the E/E/PES safety lifecycle model), except for software, which is dealt with by IEC 61508-3 (see figures 2 and 3)– these requirements include the application of techniques and measures, which are graded against the safety integrity level, for the avoidance of, and control of, faults and failures;– specifies the information necessary for carrying out the installation, commissioning and final safety validation of the E/E/PE safety-related systems;– does not apply to the operation and maintenance phase of the E/E/PE safety-related systems – this is dealt with in IEC 61508-1 – however, IEC 61508-2 does provide requirements for the preparation of information and procedures needed by the user for the operation and maintenance of the E/E/PE safety-related systems;– specifies requirements to be met by the organisation carrying out any modification of the E/E/PE safety-related systems.NOTE 1 This part of IEC 61508 is mainly directed at suppliers and/or in-company engineering departments, hence the inclusion of requirements for modification.NOTE 2 The relationship between IEC 61508-2 and IEC 61508-3 is illustrated in figure 3.1.2 IEC 61508-1, IEC 61508-2, IEC 61508-3 and IEC 61508-4 are basic safety publications, although this status does not apply in the context of low complexity E/E/PE safety-related systems (see 3.4.4 of IEC 61508-4). As basic safety publications, they are intended for use by technical committees in the preparation of standards in accordance with the principles contained in IEC Guide 104 and ISO/IEC Guide 51. IEC 61508 is also intended for use as a stand-alone standard.One of the responsibilities of a technical committee is, wherever applicable, to make use of basic safety publications in the preparation of its publications. In this context, the requirements, test methods or test conditions of this basic safety publication will not apply unless specifically referred to or included in the publications prepared by those technical committees.NOTE 1 The functional safety of an E/E/PE safety-related system can only be achieved when all related requirements are met. Therefore, it is important that all related requirements are carefully considered and adequately referenced.NOTE 2 In the USA and Canada, until the proposed sector implementation of IEC 61508 (i.e. IEC 61511) is published as an international standard in the USA and Canada, existing national process safety standards based on IEC 61508 (i.e. ANSI/ISA-S84.01) can be applied to the process sector instead of IEC 61508.1.3 Figure 1 shows the overall framework for parts 1 to 7 of IEC 61508 and indicates the role that IEC 61508-2 plays in the achievement of functional safety for E/E/PE safety-related systems. Annex A of IEC 61508-6 describes the application of IEC 61508-2 and IEC 61508-3.

First published as AS 61508.2-2001.