BVAA Technical Expert Group (TEG) On Sils Gets Underway

Members of the BVAA Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Safety Integrity Levels (SILs) met for the group’s inaugural meeting on 8th October 2015 in Banbur

We had six attendees from a variety of valve and actuator manufacturers. Due to the excellent contributions from all participants, we made rapid progress as we reviewed the Terms of Reference provided by the TEG management committee, shared our experiences of the practical issues involved with SILs, and then set about identifying how best to address the needs.

Referring to the BVAA TEG flow chart for how a TEG works (see the last Valve User Magazine issue, page 12), we kept in mind the types of deliverables that would be most appropriate for our group.

We all felt that there was a need for better education across the supply chain, particularly in terms of what SIL-related information is required and how it should be presented to assist the final safety assessor of the delivered package. For example, if the reliability information is not complete, traceable to a verified source, or presented according to the architectural configuration used, there will be compliance problems later in the project resulting in contractual delays and additional costs.

Overall, the group felt that a practical guide was necessary aimed at those involved with preparing a bid and the associated design information in response to a customer request for ‘SIL capability’. The guidance should deal with the problems associated with the typical contractual arrangements found in larger scale projects in the oil and gas and process sectors. It would complement the existing BVAA ‘Guidelines on the interpretation of BS EN 61508 for the valve and actuator industry’ (available from the BVAA website, publications page) which focuses on the technical requirements from the standard. (We also recognised the need to augment this document with BS EN 61511 aspects). Furthermore, we will be ensuring the BVAA SILs training course is kept fully up to date with the outcomes from this TEG.

By the end of the meeting we had a framework for the target guidance document with section headings and sub-topics identified which will be developed by the group over the next few months. If this can assist in producing a more consistent and uniform approach to how SILs are handled in the valve and actuator supply chain then this will be a real step forward for the industry. We shall be informing readers of progress as it happens, so watch this space!

Published: 17th November 2015