Certification

The National Institute of Metrology, Standardization, and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) is a Brazilian federal autarchy, linked to MDIC, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. In Brazil, certification bodies must be accredited by INMETRO. Electrical and electronic products that meet Brazilian requirements and that are certified by an INMETRO accredited organization must carry the mandatory INMETRO mark along with the mark of the certification organization, such as UCIEE (União Certificadora para o Controle da Conformidade de Produtos, Processos ou Serviços). Some main attributions of INMETRO are: To execute the Brazilian Metrology and Evaluation of Conformity policies; To verify the observance of the technical and legal requirements related to measurement units and methods and instruments, as well as its application to material products; To keep the standards of the units of measurement, as well as to implement and keep the chain of traceability of measurement unit standards in the country, to guarantee that they are internally consistent and compatible with equivalent international standards, aiming at, in the primary level, to its universal acceptance and, in the secondary level, to its use as supporting the productive sectors of the economy, with a focus in the quality of goods and services; To fortify the participation of Brazil in the related Metrology and Evaluation of Conformity international initiatives, and promoting the interchange with international entities and organisms; To act as CONMETRO Executive Secretariat, providing technical and administrative support to its advisory committees; To foment the use of quality management methods and techniques in Brazilian companies; To plan and execute the activities of accreditation (credenciamento) of calibration and essay laboratories, proficiency essay suppliers, and organisms of certification, inspection, training, and other activities necessary to the development of technological services infrastructure in Brazil; and To co-ordinate, in the scope of SINMETRO, the obligatory and voluntary certification of products, processes, services and the voluntary certification of staff.

Safety Integrity Levels (SILs) are a measure of the impact that a Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) has over the risk associated with a specific hazard. The higher the SIL level is, the more efficient that function will be at reducing the risk it mitigates. In other words, SIL can be seen as an indicator of the acceptable failure rate for a security function. SIL rating is a fundamental parameter to consider when comparing products; it is also an increasingly important requirement in various public and private tender invitations for the supply of mechanical systems and electrical and electronic products. SIL standards, developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), focus on functional safety. IEC standards define four SILs – 1 to 4 – a SIL is determined on the base of both quantitative and qualitative factors based on several methods used in combination, these include risk matrix, risk graphs and Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA). The higher the SIL, the more serious the potential impact of a failure is, therefore the lower the acceptable failure rate is. SIL certification, within a given system, depends on multiple factors, these include: type of technologies; system architecture; number of system components; probability of failure on demand (PFD) of each component; diagnostic test intervals. A product with SIL certification is deemed “suitable for use within a given SIL environment”, in this way the entire system is taken into account. What is SIL 3? SIL 3 is one of the SILs defined by the IEC 61508 standard. SIL 3 is defined by a risk reduction factor of 1.000 – 10.000 of failure on demand and 10-8 – 10-7 for probability of failure per hour. It is a quantitative assessment of the acceptable failure level for a security function. Why is SIL 3 important? The SIL of a Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) in a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is based on a number of methods such as Safety Layer Matrix (SLM), Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) or Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). The above methods take into a ccount the types of accident that can occur, their probability, the way they are related and their consequences in terms of cost. The recommended SIL level is therefore the appropriate level for the risks that your organisation faces. If SIL 3 is deemed the appropriate SIL, it means that SIL 3 is the minimum integrity level that can reduce the risk – that is, the cost per unit of time – associated with a particular hazard to an acceptable level. What does SIL 3 mean for device choice? SIL 3 is not designed to give a rating of a specific device, but of the function that a device (or a set of devices) performs. Is SIL 3 expensive? Evaluating the cost of a safety function is a difficult task. You need to be mindful that it is not just the upfront cost of implementing it, but also the cost associated with the risk that it mitigates. Implementing and maintaining SIL 3 will incur additional operating costs, it requires a specific skill set to be developed within the operating team and devices rated for SIL 3 use can be more expensive. Therefore, SIL 3 is only recommended under critical and specific circumstances. However, the cost of not implementing the appropriate SIL significantly outweighs the cost of implementing it. In conclusion SIL 3 is recommended only under special circumstances. Nevertheless, where it is deemed appropriate, SIL 3 is critical to ensuring the adequate safety of an operation.

The PMP acknowledges candidates skilled at managing the people, processes, and business priorities of professional projects. PMI, the world’s leading authority on project management, created the PMP to recognize project managers who have proven they have project leadership experience and expertise in any way of working.