Is TÜV Rheinland FS Engineer certification relevant?

In recent years there has been a large increase in certified safety engineers, but are these certifications necessary or even relevant?

The international safety standards such as IEC 61508 require people involved with safety systems to have the appropriate competence. Part of being competent is determining that the person has the required understanding of standards, theory and technology however the standard doesn't specify a particular qualification.

This is where certification courses can come into play. There are multiple certification courses available however the TÜV Rheinland FS Engineer course has become the most widespread in Australia and New Zealand.  The certification is globally accepted with over 6100 certified TÜV Rheinland FS Engineers around the world, around six times more than any other certification program.

The TÜV Rheinland FS Engineer course is available for engineers (or equivalent qualification) with at least three years of functional safety experience. There are five streams of the certification:

1. Safety Instrumented Systems
2. HW/SW Design acc. to IEC 61508
3. Functional Safety of Machinery
4. Automotive – Systems Design acc. to ISO 26262 and IEC 61508
5. Process Hazard and Risk Analysis (Starting in May 2013)

As functional safety becomes more prevalent in both Process and Machine Safety these certifications will be an essential starting point for ensuring personnel are competent.

 

Editor’s note: NHP has three TUV certified staff employed, including Craig who is the author of this blog.