PRISMA Impianti Risk Analysis

Functional Safety is the core of several EU Directives related to Machinery/ATEX/PED/Low Voltage/EMC.

PRISMA Impianti fully endorses the wise words from Werner von Siemens: “Accident prevention should not be understood as a statutory requirement, but as an imperative dictated by moral obligations and economic logic.” For our company, functional safety is an indispensable part of the work.

Functional Safety means to conceive, design, build, install, maintain and shut down a machine / system / plant in a safe way so that it always operates correctly in response to the variable inputs, including the safe management of possible operator mistakes, hardware failures and environmental changes.

Designing the Functional Safety of a new machine / plant / system requires a wide array of technical knowledge and specific skills to balance safety standards and production needs.

PRISMA Impianti always strives to find the best solution for the customer, taking into account the entire spectrum of aspects involved.

Accurate and detailed Risk Analysis is the starting point of any Functional Safety application. Risk assessment according to EN ISO 12100 methods and pertinent type B/C norms, include:

• Hazard identification,
• Risk assessment (probability and magnitude of the event),
• Planning of the mitigation action,
• Re- assessment of the risks.

Starting from the Risk Analysis PRISMA Impianti can design and implement a plan to reach the required safety level, in terms of hardware as well as software.

After completing the risk analysis, our company also performs the validation and we can act as integrator and coordinator for complex projects, in which the responsibility for Functional Safety is shared between several actors.

Our rigorous approach to safety relies on the Integrated Quality, Environment Health and Safety Management System, according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, BS OHSAS 18001. We are following a continuous improvement process and therefore our engineers are trained and experienced in Machinery/ATEX/PED (Low Voltage/EMC directives application). Every year we are scheduling courses and workshops with the main safety players (e.g. TÜV, Siemens, Pilz, Pepperl + Fuchs, the Italian School for Radiation Protection) in order to assure the best knowledge of the legislative/normative frame and best technologies. TÜV Rheinland, widely recognized as certification body, certifies the expertise of our personnel.

PRISMA Impianti Risk Analysis Applications cover multiple sectors: from metals, chemicals and process, up to aerospace and transportation.

Starting with metals, we worked with the world’s leading players in the steel industry: we realized the Risk Analysis and the implementation of the functional safety in accordance with EN 746 and CE marking as manufacturer for the modernization of the AHSS continuous annealing steel line for SSAB in Sweden.

The safety functions control the safe combustion and emissions of 233 internal-recovery burners.

Another important reference in the steel industry is the review of third-party risks analysis and the implementation of the Functional Safety for a new tension leveller in the exit section of the annealing line for ArcerolMittal in Belgium.

In the chemical sector our company has carried out Risk analysis, Design and Implementation of the Functional Safety of a new coagulation reactor for the production of fluorinated polymers, also providing the EC marking for the reactor as the manufacturer’s “mandator”.

Also in the transportation sector, PRISMA participated in the RAMS (Reliabilty, Avalilability, Maintainability, Safety) Analysis team, according to EN and implemented fire safety and anti-intrusion scenarios for subway lines in Europe.

Last but not least in the aerospace sector PRISMA Impianti has developed important contributions such as reviewing third-party risk analysis and the implementation of Functional Safety for aeronautical engines and other avionic components for one of the world’s leading companies in this field.

In the next months there will follow further articles regarding Functional Safety in other applications.