Defining industrial functional safety
What is functional safety? Industry standards like IEC 61508 and ISO 13849 define functional safety in similar ways. At UL Solutions, we interpret functional safety to be part of the overall safety of a system, which depends on the correct execution of specific functions. This is key for electronics control systems and software intended for use in safety-critical applications.
We are dedicated to helping customers navigate the complex technical and regulatory challenges of today’s functional safety landscape. With our extensive certification expertise and holistic approach to safety engineering and assessment, we can help customers identify, specify and determine the functional safety of products and systems to key standards and ratings.
Benefits of integrating industrial functional safety and cybersecurity.
Learn how to comply with global regulations, strengthen your industrial systems against vulnerability, mitigate the risk of injury, offline machinery, and subsequent production downtime and protect your brand.
Industrial functional safety services for the following industries:
Industrial automation and controls
Process industry
Machinery and robotics
Energy systems
- Industrial automation, controls and IIoT
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We are a global leader in understanding the evolving safety needs related to the industrial internet of things (IIoT), or Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. This innovation wave enables suppliers and manufacturers to optimize and automate processes and assets through sensors, robotics, advanced analytics and intelligent networks.
More and more manufacturers are seeking to integrate IIoT technology into production processes. We are an experienced leader who can help test and certify equipment or software destined for working environments.
Our team of software and systems engineering experts can assist customers with complex industrial control system safety challenges.
With extensive cross-industry experience in IIoT functionality and our expertise in functional safety testing, assessments and certification, we can help all types of manufacturing customers mitigate the risk of production downtime resulting from personnel injury or offline machinery.
UL Solutions provides functional safety services for the following smart equipment and systems:
- Automotive systems
- Control equipment
- Electrosensitive protective equipment
- Factory and industrial automation
- Human machine interfaces (HMIs)
- Industrial and fieldbus protocols
- Industrial automation
- Industrial sensors
- Input/Output (I/O) and output devices
- Microcontrollers
- Motion control equipment
- Motor drives
- Programmable logic controllers
- Robotic equipment
- Safety control systems
- Safety sensors
- Sensor fusion
- Software libraries
- Process industry
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We can help system integrators assess the safe and reliable operation of subsystem components and assemblies. As industrial components, equipment and machinery become smarter and more connected, system integrators need to demonstrate the safety integrity of all components within the overall assemblies to avoid production downtime and improve personnel safety.
Through our in-depth and independent machinery risk assessments, we can pinpoint system inconsistencies and weaknesses that pose unacceptable safety risks to personnel at any point during the production process.
Our Risk Assessment Program, as well as technical advisory services and training, can help system integrators meet compliance with national and international standards including American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B11, ISO 12100, ISO 13849, ISO 25119, ISO 26262, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70, NFPA 70E or 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910 OSHA.
As a global leader in safety science and systems engineering, we provide system integrators with a comprehensive and independent third party to help identify and overcome the most complex manufacturing safety challenges.
UL Solutions provides functional safety services for the following safety instrumented systems, subsystem components and assemblies:
- Automotive vehicles and tier 1 suppliers
- Autonomous products, robotics and vehicles
- Burner management systems
- Control equipment
- Elevator equipment
- Equipment guards
- Factory automation
- Industrial tools
- Light curtains
- Machinery
- Microcontrollers
- Process equipment
- Safety control systems
- Safety equipment
- Safety sensors
- Software libraries
- Machinery and robotics
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To access customers in the global marketplace, producers of modern machinery and robotic products must adhere to international functional safety requirements, such as the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC of Europe and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.
We expertly assess the safety integrity levels (SILs) or performance levels (PLs) of equipment and systems against various functional safety standards, including IEC 61508, ISO 26262 and ISO 13849.
Backed by our independent, third-party assessments and as an accredited Notified Body (NB) for the European Union (EU) Machinery Directive, UL Marks and certificates are well-recognized global symbols of safety excellence. They can help build trust and confidence in the safety of a product, while also providing a point of differentiation against competitors. We can also provide a market differentiator to show when products are designed to include functional safety in addition to traditional end-product standards.
UL Solutions provides functional safety services for the following machinery and robotics :
- Elevator equipment
- Machinery
- Robotic equipment
- Safety control systems
- Safety sensors
- Software libraries
- Energy systems
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Functional safety concerns in the energy sector span from smart grids, inverters, photovoltaic (PV)/solar system equipment, distributive energy resources (DER) devices to battery storage and energy storage systems (ESS).
Inverters
The inverter has become the brain of the PV/DER system and software has become its most critical component. Inverters are being relied upon for an ever-increasing list of protection and performance functions for the entire PV and microgrid system. The severity of a failure mode (electric shock, energy hazard and/or fire) resulting from the loss of a protection circuit is the primary driver of the functional safety-based requirements published in renewable energy and distributed generation standards such as:
- UL 60730, Standard for Safety of Automatic Electrical Controls
- UL 1998, Standard for Software in Programmable Components
- UL 991, Standard for Safety Tests for Safety- Related Controls Employing Solid-State Devices
Battery energy storage systems
Functional safety is critical to the safe operation of battery energy storage systems. Not conducting a rigorous safety analysis followed by an appropriate level of functional safety evaluation and testing on a battery energy storage system results in a significant increase in the risks of fire and electric shock to the equipment and to service persons, users and people located in the vicinity of the battery or ESS.
Standards in this area that require functional safety are:
- UL 1973, Standard for Batteries for Use in Stationary, Vehicle Auxiliary Power and Light Electric Rail (LER) Applications
- UL 9540, Standard for Energy Storage Systems and Equipment
- UL 2271, Standard for Batteries for Use in Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) Applications
- UL 2580, Batteries for Use in Electric Vehicles
- UL 2849, Standard for Electric Bicycles, Electrically Power Assisted Cycles (EPAC Bicycles), Electric Scooters, and Electric Motorcycles
- UL 2272, Standard for Electrical Systems for Personal E-Mobility Devices
Functional safety can help maintain safe operating conditions for energy storage, and UL Solutions can support the energy sector through functional safety investigations to applicable standards.
UL Solutions provides functional safety services for the following energy-related products:
- Battery management systems
- Energy storage systems and equipment
- Microcontrollers
- Motor generator sets
- Power converters and inverters
- Programmable Components
- Safety control systems
- Safety sensors
- Software libraries
Solutions serving critical business needs
Functional Safety
We navigate the complex technical challenges of today’s functional safety landscape to help you improve the safety of your products and systems.
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Functional Safety Certification and Training Program
Functional safety is critical in today’s interconnected world. Leverage our extensive certification and safety expertise to expand your company’s functional safety knowledge and skills and achieve certification at the professional or expert level.
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Industrial Cybersecurity Solutions
Advisory, testing and certification services to help organizations manage cybersecurity risks and validate cybersecurity capabilities.
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Automotive Functional Safety Services
Drive successful change with us through intelligent, proactive, cost-effective and functional safety services for the automotive industry.
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Automotive Cybersecurity Solutions
Analyze risk, mitigate threats, maintain compliance and train your team to address cybersecurity for your modern automotive innovations.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Autonomous Safety Services
Artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy compliance services can help confirm that products incorporating AI are built with safety and security in mind.
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Industrial functional safety services we offer
Competency and training:
- We offer personnel certification programs covering standards such as IEC 61508, ISO 13849, UL/IEC 60730, UL 1998, UL 991, ISA/IEC 62443, ISO 25119, ISO 19014 and UL 4600. This includes our:
- UL Certified Functional Safety Professional (UL-CFSP)
- UL Certified Functional Safety eXpert (UL-CFSX)
Contact us for private and customized courses based on software safety, cybersecurity, risk assessment, FMEDA calculations and other related subjects. Our training and personnel certification programs can be found in our training center.
Independent reviews and advisory services:
- Safety case construction including work item templates, documentation structures, traceability, activity planning and product life cycle management (PLM) integration.
- Tool qualification.
- Functional safety assessment milestones reviews (FSA), target of evaluation (TOE) and verification reviews.
- Safety analysis throughout the product or system life cycle, at all levels — system, hardware and, in particular, software.
- Risk methodologies and tools including but not limited to hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA), hazard and operability analysis (HazOp), failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA), system-theoretic accident model and processes (STAMP), Markov, reliability block diagram (RBD), reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS), and static code analysis.
- Hardware quantification that includes reliability prediction and modeling, determination of diagnostic coverage, failure modes effects and diagnostic analysis (FMEDA) templates and calculation of metrics such as probability metric for random hardware failure (MTTFd), single-point fault metric (FIT) and safe failure fraction (SFF).
- Services that help our customers understand the requirements and test for environmental immunity via rigorous testing, including audits and comprehensive training.
Assessment and certification services:
We offer assessment services including:
- Dakks accredited inspection body.
- ANAB accredited certification body for:
- IEC 61508
- IEC 62061
- ISO 13849
- IEC 61511
- ISO 25119
- ISO 19014
- UL 1998
- CSA 22.2 No. 0.8
- UL 60730-1 Annex H
- IEC 60730-1 Annex H
- Among others
- Notified body support for Machinery Regulation, and ATEX Directive.
- Items, systems, Safety Elements out of Context (SEooC) for compliance to ISO 26262.
- Organizational and project-based functional safety management audits.
- Autonomous vehicles and related systems.
- Vehicle level testing.
- ADAS, powertrain and other related control systems.
- Sensor fusion concepts and individual sensor certification.
- UL 4600 and highly automated vehicle (HAV) testing.
- Functional safety management systems assessment and compliance services.
- Integration in existing systems, compliance with ISO 15504, capability maturity models (CMM) as required.
- IEC 61508 compliance and certification. Our assessment services cover outlining key features or functions at the system/hardware level and the software level to satisfy requirements for SIL decomposition, redundancy, independence, noninterference and diagnostic coverage.
- Functional safety assessments, including advisory services such as preliminary reviews, mock audits and risk assessments.
- Cybersecurity services, including advisory services, threat assessments, testing and evaluations. Explore our industrial cybersecurity portfolio.
Benefits of working with UL Solutions for functional safety
Building from our safety science and engineering expertise in many different functional safety domains, we provide customers with a single global partner for all safety challenges and specific market entry needs.
Manufacturers, system integrators and suppliers around the world can take advantage of the full depth of our services, bundling traditional UL Solutions product safety investigations with our functional safety assessments for greater project efficiencies and speed to market.
For us, compliance is more than just satisfying a standard; we partner with organizations to support their goals in safety, general quality and development efficiency. Our Industrial Functional Safety Team knows the nuances between different functional safety standards. Whatever the need or challenge, we can help determine the best assessment process for specific products, based on the reasons for conducting a functional safety assessment and/or a product’s intended use.
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Functional safety builds trust
UL Solutions provides expert independent safety assessments, audits and certification. We can assess both functional safety and autonomous safety, as well as provide resources, training and certification programs across a variety of disciplines and safety standards.
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