Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of IEC 61508 are designated as IEC basic safety publications. This means that IEC Technical Committees will have to use these parts in the preparation of each of their own sector standards that has E/E/PE safety-related systems within its scope. IEC 61508 will therefore have far reaching implications across all IEC application sectors.

Note that basic safety publication status does not apply in the context of low complexity E/E/PE safety-related systems or where the required safety integrity of the E/E/PE system is less than the lowest safety integrity level in IEC 61508.

This text contains extracts from the IEC Functional Safety Zone. All such extracts are copyright of International Electrotechnical Commission © 2005, IEC, Geneva, Switzerland. All rights reserved. IEC has no responsibility for the placement and context in which the extracts are reproduced. This notice takes precedence over any general copyright statement.