IEC 61508-6:2010 Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems - Part 6: Guidelines on the application of IEC 61508-2 and IEC 61508-3
This part of IEC 61508 contains information and guidelines on IEC 61508-2 and
IEC 61508-3.
– Annex A gives a brief overview of the requirements of IEC 61508-2 and IEC 61508-3 and
sets out the functional steps in their application.
– Annex B gives an example technique for calculating the probabilities of hardware failure
and should be read in conjunction with 7.4.3 and Annex C of IEC 61508-2 and Annex D.
– Annex C gives a worked example of calculating diagnostic coverage and should be read in
conjunction with Annex C of IEC 61508-2.
– Annex D gives a methodology for quantifying the effect of hardware-related common
cause failures on the probability of failure.
– Annex E gives worked examples of the application of the software safety integrity tables
specified in Annex A of IEC 61508-3 for safety integrity levels 2 and 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 3.4.3 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 61508-1, IEC 61508-2, IEC 61508-3
and IEC 61508-4 are also intended for use as stand-alone publications. The horizontal safety
function of this international standard does not apply to medical equipment in compliance with
the IEC 60601 series.
1.3 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.
1.4 Figure 1 shows the overall framework of the IEC 61508 series and indicates the role that
IEC 61508-6 plays in the achievement of functional safety for E/E/PE safety-related systems.
IEC 61508-6:2010 history
2010IEC 61508-6:2010 Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems - Part 6: Guidelines on the application of IEC 61508-2 and IEC 61508-3
2000IEC 61508-6:2000 Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems - Part 6: Guidelines on the application of IEC 61508-2 and IEC 61508-3