Synopsis
The third of the twelve planned workshops took place in the DTI Conference Centre, Victoria Street, London, with 32 delegates representing a range of industrial sectors. Key issues for those industries and organisations represented were identified and proposals and solutions to resolve the issues investigated, providing a further significant contribution to the SIPI project.

Ray Browne, Assistant Director of the DTI, opened the event. The DTI have supported a number of strategic safety-related systems initiatives for many years and Ray added his and the departments support for the objectives of the SIPI project.

The UK workshop was structured using the now tried and tested generic programme model of invited speakers from the national regulatory body governing the process industry and a speaker from an organization steeped in implementing the standard, combined with breakout and discussion groups. Common ‘hot topic issues’ included: access to a process industry-wide reliability data base; more industry case studies and sharing of implementation experiences; SIL determination; competency at individual and organizational level; and availability and scope of current conformity assessment schemes.

Speakers
The main speakers provided views from opposite sides of the regulatory fence and helped to generate stimulating discussion on a variety of topics related to the content, interpretation and application of the standard. In addition, two short presentations were given: -

Experiences of a Major End User
Ian Hitchin, Manager I/E Services, Kemira

IEC-61511 Safety Instrumented Systems, Overview and Current Status
Simon Brown, HSE