IEC 61508 — Functional Safety Foundations

About IEC 61508 — Functional Safety Foundations

"IEC 61508 — Functional Safety Foundations" is a serial video course from CSA, published weekly in strict curriculum order — building from foundational terms and structure through lifecycle practice to advanced, assessor-level topics. Designed for working functional-safety engineers and managers, not beginners or students. CSA is a functional safety, reliability, and certification consultancy serving robotics, autonomous systems, transportation, and industrial equipment manufacturers. CSA provides end-to-end safety engineering services: preliminary gap analyses and safety audits, SIL/PL determination, FMEA and FMEDA execution, fault tree analysis, safety case development, hardware metrics (SPFM/LFM/PMHF), lifecycle documentation, and embedded safety engineering support. CSA engineers work alongside product teams from architecture through final functional safety assessment, and support companies seeking NRTL, CE, ATEX, ISO 26262, and UL 4600 marks. Contact: Sales@criticalsa.com. This series is part of the CSA Functional Safety Network — a coordinated set of weekly video courses covering IEC 61508, ISO 26262, ISO/SAE 21434, SOTIF (ISO 21448), UL 4600, IEC 62443, ISO/PAS 8800, ISO 13849, machinery safety, safety analysis methods, and more. Each show links to the others so practitioners can follow the thread that matches their project.

Publisher

Zachary Lukasiewicz

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Aug 2026

Latest episode

22 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

55 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Aug 2026

   IEC 61508: Proof Testing and the Proof-Test Interval

   We've walked the whole safety lifecycle, from hazard analysis down to the wiring in the field. Now zoom all the way in, past the block diagrams, to a single line item in your maintenance plan: the proof test. Here's the uncomfortable truth the standard forces you to face. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on IEC 61508. In this episode: Let's open the part of IEC 61508 that deals with periodic proof testing, and how that testing feeds straight into your failure-on-demand math. So what is a proof test, in the language of the standard? It's a test you run on a schedule to reveal the dangerous failures that have piled up unseen, and to bring the function back to an as-good-as-new condition. First, find the subject. Now classify how that hardware fails, using the taxonomy the whole standard runs on. Here's why proof testing exists at all. Picture the risk over time. Reference: Proof test is a defined term in IEC 61508-4 (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/) (Part 4, definitions/abbreviations). I described the concept (periodic test to reveal dangerous-undetected faults and restore the functi More in this series: IEC 61508 — Functional Safety Foundations (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-61508-functional-safety-foundations/id6805035042) | Functional Safety Assessment and Services (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/functional-safety-assessment-and-services/id6805034418) Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/). Partner with us (https://meetings.hubspot.com/benjamin-twombly/strategic-partnerships) Follow on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/criticalsystemsanalysis) Visit our website (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/) Read our feature on Automate.org (https://www.automate.org/robotics/news/critical-systems-analysis-advancing-functional-safety-and-systems-assurance-across-industries-critical-systems-analysis) All shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-and-machine-learning-safety/id6805034104) | Fault Tree Analysis (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fault-tree-analysis-fta-for-safety-critical-systems/id6805034471) | FS Assessment (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/functional-safety-assessment-and-services/id6805034418) | Safety Analysis (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hara-fmea-fmeda-and-tara-safety-analysis/id6805034857) | IEC 61508 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-61508-functional-safety-foundations/id6805035042) | IEC 62443 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-62443-industrial-cybersecurity/id6805035109) | ISO 10218 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-10218-and-iso-ts-15066-robot-safety/id6805035434) | ISO 12100 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-12100-machinery-risk-assessment/id6805035523) | ISO 13849 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-13849-machinery-safety-and-performance-levels/id6805035815) | ISO 26262 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-26262-automotive-functional-safety/id6805036026) | ISO/PAS 8800 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-pas-8800-safety-and-artificial-intelligence/id6805036317) | ISO 26262-11 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/semiconductor-functional-safety-iso-26262-11/id6805036724) | V-Model (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-v-model-and-safety-lifecycle/id6805037190) | UL 4600 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ul-4600-autonomous-systems-safety/id6805037488).

2. 

   22 Aug 2026

   IEC 61508: From SIL Target to Verified Design — Worked Example

   So far we have flown over the whole safety lifecycle. Now zoom all the way in, to the hinge that the entire standard turns on: the moment a fuzzy wish — "this has to be safe" — becomes a hard, testable number. In IEC 61508, that hinge is the Safety Integrity Level, the SIL. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on IEC 61508. In this episode: Start by naming the thing everything else orbits: the Safety Integrity Level, or SIL. Move one: name what can go wrong. Here is the idea that drives the whole standard. Locate yourself in the lifecycle. Move two: risk is never one number. Move three: those separate factors map, through a lookup, to a single level. Reference: SIL target failure measures are stated correctly: low demand mode uses average probability of failure on demand (PFDavg) with SIL 2 spanning ten to the minus three up to ten to the More in this series: IEC 61508 — Functional Safety Foundations (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-61508-functional-safety-foundations/id6805035042) | Functional Safety Assessment and Services (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/functional-safety-assessment-and-services/id6805034418) Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/). Partner with us (https://meetings.hubspot.com/benjamin-twombly/strategic-partnerships) Follow on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/criticalsystemsanalysis) Visit our website (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/) Read our feature on Automate.org (https://www.automate.org/robotics/news/critical-systems-analysis-advancing-functional-safety-and-systems-assurance-across-industries-critical-systems-analysis) All shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-and-machine-learning-safety/id6805034104) | Fault Tree Analysis (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fault-tree-analysis-fta-for-safety-critical-systems/id6805034471) | FS Assessment (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/functional-safety-assessment-and-services/id6805034418) | Safety Analysis (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hara-fmea-fmeda-and-tara-safety-analysis/id6805034857) | IEC 61508 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-61508-functional-safety-foundations/id6805035042) | IEC 62443 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-62443-industrial-cybersecurity/id6805035109) | ISO 10218 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-10218-and-iso-ts-15066-robot-safety/id6805035434) | ISO 12100 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-12100-machinery-risk-assessment/id6805035523) | ISO 13849 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-13849-machinery-safety-and-performance-levels/id6805035815) | ISO 26262 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-26262-automotive-functional-safety/id6805036026) | ISO/PAS 8800 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-pas-8800-safety-and-artificial-intelligence/id6805036317) | ISO 26262-11 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/semiconductor-functional-safety-iso-26262-11/id6805036724) | V-Model (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-v-model-and-safety-lifecycle/id6805037190) | UL 4600 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ul-4600-autonomous-systems-safety/id6805037488).

3. 

   22 Aug 2026

   IEC 61508: Random vs Systematic Failures

   So far we've stayed up at the altitude of the whole safety lifecycle. Now zoom all the way in, to the single idea that the rest of IEC 61508 is built around. The standard splits every dangerous failure into two families, and it treats them in completely opposite ways. Part 4 gives you the definitions: random hardware failure, and systematic failure. Part of the Critical Systems Analysis functional-safety series on IEC 61508. In this episode: Picture your development pipeline as a row of gates: review, integration test, validation. Here's the core split. The standard is precise about that right-hand column. Now here's the line that matters, and it's the whole reason this video exists. So if you can't calculate your way out of a systematic fault, what do you do instead? You apply rigor, and you scale it. Reference: Definitions of 'random hardware failure' and 'systematic failure' live in IEC 61508-4 (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/) (definitions and abbreviations); I described the concepts and edition rather than citing speci More in this series: IEC 61508 — Functional Safety Foundations (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-61508-functional-safety-foundations/id6805035042) | Functional Safety Assessment and Services (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/functional-safety-assessment-and-services/id6805034418) Explore more from Critical Systems Analysis (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/). Partner with us (https://meetings.hubspot.com/benjamin-twombly/strategic-partnerships) Follow on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/criticalsystemsanalysis) Visit our website (https://www.criticalsystemsanalysis.com/) Read our feature on Automate.org (https://www.automate.org/robotics/news/critical-systems-analysis-advancing-functional-safety-and-systems-assurance-across-industries-critical-systems-analysis) All shows on Apple Podcasts: AI & ML Safety (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-and-machine-learning-safety/id6805034104) | Fault Tree Analysis (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fault-tree-analysis-fta-for-safety-critical-systems/id6805034471) | FS Assessment (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/functional-safety-assessment-and-services/id6805034418) | Safety Analysis (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hara-fmea-fmeda-and-tara-safety-analysis/id6805034857) | IEC 61508 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-61508-functional-safety-foundations/id6805035042) | IEC 62443 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iec-62443-industrial-cybersecurity/id6805035109) | ISO 10218 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-10218-and-iso-ts-15066-robot-safety/id6805035434) | ISO 12100 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-12100-machinery-risk-assessment/id6805035523) | ISO 13849 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-13849-machinery-safety-and-performance-levels/id6805035815) | ISO 26262 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-26262-automotive-functional-safety/id6805036026) | ISO/PAS 8800 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iso-pas-8800-safety-and-artificial-intelligence/id6805036317) | ISO 26262-11 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/semiconductor-functional-safety-iso-26262-11/id6805036724) | V-Model (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-v-model-and-safety-lifecycle/id6805037190) | UL 4600 (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ul-4600-autonomous-systems-safety/id6805037488).

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