Safety Services

Elite Safety Consultancy offers seven categories of service:

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment lies at the heart of all machinery and process safety, whether the aim is compliance with IEC/EN 61508 (Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety related systems), IEC/EN 61511 (the process industry sector standard under IEC/EN 61506), IEC 62061 (the sector standard for machinery), EN 954-1 (Safety of machinery, Safety related parts of control systems, General principles for design), or ISO 13849-1 (Safety of machinery, Safety related parts of control systems, General principles for design - the standard that will soon replace EN 954-1).

In order to meet the specific requirements, Elite's consultants select the most appropriate risk assessment method and undertake the assessment in accordance with EN 1050 (Safety of machinery, Principles for risk assessment).

Often a risk assessment is performed as part of a new-build project or upgrade. Alternatively, Elite's consultants can assess risks relating to existing machinery and processes where manufacturers and plant operators do not have the expertise or resource available. In such cases, should the risk assessment identify any unacceptable risks, the consultants can provide advice and assistance to implement risk reduction measures, then reassess the risks afterwards. Top Of Page...

SIL Determination

IEC 61508 and the principles of functional safety are being increasingly recognised by machine specifiers, end-users and plant operators. Nevertheless, it is a highly complex matter to determine the SIL (Safety Integrity Level) of the overall safety-related control system or the sub-systems from which it is composed. Elite's knowledgeable and experienced consultants can carry out SIL determinations either as part of a wider project or as an independent third-party acting for clients who want to be certain of applying the correct SIL. This is important because a calculated SIL that is too low can lead to an unacceptable risk; and a SIL that is calculated to be too high can result in dramatic increases in costs. Top Of Page...

Hazard and Operability Study (HazOp)

Independent hazard and operability studies (HazOps) are commonly used within the process industries to investigate how a plant's operation may deviate from the intended design. One of the most important factors behind a successful HazOp is the experience of the team undertaking the study, in terms of both depth and diversity. Elite Safety Consultancy certainly offers this, with highly experienced individuals who have worked in fields as diverse as oil and gas, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, paper processing, defence, nuclear, manufacturing and packaging. Top Of Page...

Safety Audits and Assessments

Depth and breadth of experience are invaluable for safety audits and assessments. Elite's consultants can carry these out on existing plant and machinery or on designs for new equipment or upgrades. In some cases this is best performed by close examination of the plant and/or as a desk-based exercise, but Elite also has facilities for building software models of existing or proposed plant and running a copy of the control software to accurately simulate the operation of the process. Such an exercise allows 'what if' scenarios to be examined in detail via software, with no disruption of production or risk to plant, personnel or the environment. Top Of Page...

Safety Software Validation

Elite Control Systems was the first automation systems integration company of its size to obtain accreditation under the coveted BS EN ISO 9001:2000 TickIT certification scheme for design, development, production, support and installation of control and monitoring systems. This forms the basis for the safety software validation consultancy service, which is available to customers who have written their own software or who wish to validate software from another supplier prior to it being run on the plant. Furthermore, the software validation team can also independently validate software written by Elite Control Systems' software engineers. In either case, Elite's software modelling and simulation suite can be utilised as part of the safety software validation service. Top Of Page...

Safety Training

In the majority of cases safety training relates to training of clients' staff who will be using safety-related control systems designed and implemented by Elite Control Systems. In the near future, however, Elite Safety Consultancy's training services will be expanded to include courses on general machinery and process plant safety. Top Of Page...

Safety Competency Assessment

All of the consultants and engineers at Elite Safety Consultancy have successfully undergone an independent third party audit of their competence. In addition, Elite Safety Consultancy has had its competence audited at an organisational level. Formalised competency management of this nature is essential to meet the requirements of IEC 61508, 'Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety related systems', and the European harmonised equivalent, EN 61508.

Moreover, Elite Safety Consultancy has been audited and demonstrated to be competent to work with clients to formulate, develop, implement and manage their own competency management schemes. Because IEC 61508 takes a lifecycle approach to functional safety, those operating and maintaining safety-related electrical/electronic/programmable electronic control systems must be competent to do so - which is why the question of competency needs to be addressed by plant operators today. Top Of Page...