About this Training Course
The TÜV Rheinland Functional Safety Engineer (SIS) course provides a comprehensive and structured introduction to functional safety and Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), aligned with IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 standards. It is designed to develop competence across the full safety lifecycle, including hazard identification, Safety Integrity Level (SIL) determination, system design, verification, operation, maintenance, and functional safety assessment.
The programme combines theoretical foundations with practical application, incorporating worked examples, case studies, and regulatory context. Participants will gain a clear understanding of how functional safety is applied in modern automated and digitalised systems, and how risk is identified, reduced, and managed to achieve tolerable levels in industrial environments.
This course forms part of the TÜV Rheinland Functional Safety Training Program and supports candidates working towards the TÜV Rheinland Functional Safety Engineer (SIS) certification. It includes structured classroom learning, practical exercises, and a two-part examination designed to assess both knowledge and applied understanding of functional safety principles.
This training course is delivered by an accepted course provider of the TÜV Rheinland Functional Safety Training Program.
Q1: What is functional safety in industrial systems? Functional safety protects people, assets, and the environment during dangerous situations. It ensures equipment responds correctly to inputs. As a result, it prevents hazardous events. In many plants, Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) support this protection.
Q2: What is a Safety Instrumented System (SIS)? A Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is an engineered protection system. It detects unsafe conditions and then moves the process to a safe state. In addition, it includes sensors, a logic solver, and final control elements. Together, these parts perform Safety Instrumented Functions (SIFs).
Q3: What is a Safety Integrity Level (SIL)? Safety Integrity Level (SIL) measures the risk reduction that a safety function provides. In other words, it shows how reliably a Safety Instrumented Function performs. Therefore, a higher SIL means stricter performance requirements and greater risk reduction.
Q4: What is the difference between IEC 61508 and IEC 61511? IEC 61508 is a general functional safety standard for many industries. By contrast, IEC 61511 focuses on the process industry sector. It builds on IEC 61508 and therefore gives practical guidance for applying Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) in industrial plants.
Q5: What is SIL determination and why is it important? SIL determination identifies the SIL that a safety function needs. Typically, teams decide this through risk analysis. As a result, they can reduce risk to a tolerable level.
Q6: What is the role of reliability modelling in functional safety? Reliability modelling shows how likely a system is to fail. As a result, engineers can check whether safety functions meet performance targets. Common methods include Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Reliability Block Diagrams (RBDs). In addition, these tools help teams identify weak points in a design.
Q7: What challenges do companies face when implementing functional safety? Companies often face systematic failures, random failures, and poor failure data. Moreover, they may struggle with skill gaps or weak lifecycle management. However, strong documentation, verification, and training can reduce these issues.
