Since more than 15 years, the TÜV Rheinland FS Training Program has delivered a compliant independent verification of FS competency for engineers acc. to the relevant standards IEC 61508, IEC 61511, ISO 13849, IEC 62061, ISO 26262 and others.
The program and trainings have been reviewed considering updates of the standards in order to ensure the requirements for demonstrating the correct level of competence (training, know-how and experience) are satisfied.
From 2020 on a new and revised procedure will introduce a clear identification of revalidation of the level of competency of FS Engineers (TÜV Rheinland), who extend the validity of their certificate for the second time and for further 10 years.
1st renewal after 5 years remains under the same conditions with a reference letter and evidence of the past 5 years experiences/activities in the domain of Functional Safety
2nd renewal, requires you:
1.1. Re-attending the complete FS ENG SIS training with a approved course provider
1.2. Re-write the exam and pass the 75% benchmark again
The renewal will be valid for another 10 YEARS.
The main reason for the change in the competency review program is that the IEC61511 edition 2.0 requires as a normative requirement a periodic review of competency and that describes 3 main items: (1. Formal training, 2. Knowhow test, 3. Experiences)
Out of a personal experience gained after training literally thousands of engineers worldwide over the last 15 years, it is clear to me that engineers who attended a Functional Safety training 10 years ago or longer are usually not daily occupied with the topic (Functional Safety) and do not really master the subject, let along the newest edition 2.0 of the IEC61511 that was released early 2016.
It would really not help the safety community by simply ask them to re-write a new exam based on the edition 2.0 of the IEC61511 without following first the specific course as a refreshment again. The previous requirement for the second renewal of sending 2 case studies as evidence became for many engineers a formality and was very difficult to judge the authenticity of some of the documents that were assessed over the years.
I am glad to belong to the leading Functional Safety Competency review program for the Process Industry and want to differentiate from the other programs out there.
There is nothing more rewarding to HELP people to become or remain COMPETENT in Functional Safety protecting PEOPLE – ENVIRONMENT and CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Please do not hesitate to contact me by email in case you need further information on the subject
Keep it ‘Functional’ SAFE out there!