Resources
Official sources and references for functional safety, railway signalling and requirements engineering
Links point to the official websites of the organisations that publish or maintain each standard. The standards themselves are usually sold by these bodies or by national standards organisations; always check which edition applies to your project.
Railway signalling & safety
Where the railway rules, ERTMS/ETCS specifications and CENELEC railway standards come from.
EU agency
European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)
Publishes the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs), including the Control-Command and Signalling TSI, and acts as the ERTMS system authority.
Visit era.europa.euIndustry portal
ERTMS
Background on the European Rail Traffic Management System: ETCS, radio communication (GSM-R / FRMCS) and deployment across Europe.
Visit ertms.netStandards body
CENELEC
European committee that publishes the railway RAMS and safety standards EN 50126, EN 50128 / EN 50716 (software) and EN 50129 (safety-related electronic systems).
Visit cenelec.euAutomotive
Functional safety and process capability references for road vehicle E/E systems.
Standard
ISO 26262 – Road vehicles: Functional safety
The functional safety standard for electrical and electronic systems in road vehicles, published in 12 parts and based on Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL A–D).
View on iso.orgProcess model
Automotive SPICE
Process assessment model for automotive system and software development, maintained by VDA QMC. Covers system and software engineering processes such as requirements elicitation and analysis.
Visit VDA QMCCross-domain functional safety & systems engineering
Generic foundations that the sector standards build on.
Standards body
IEC – Functional safety
IEC overview of functional safety and IEC 61508, the basic standard with Safety Integrity Levels (SIL 1–4) from which sector standards such as IEC 61511 and IEC 62061 are derived.
Visit iec.chProfessional society
INCOSE
International Council on Systems Engineering. Publishes the Systems Engineering Handbook and the Guide to Writing Requirements.
Visit incose.orgOn this site
Further material I maintain here, including the book recommendations.
Reading list
Books on safety engineering, requirements and system design that I recommend.
Go to booksGlossary
Short definitions of functional safety, RAMS and requirements engineering terms.
Go to glossaryEngineering tools
Small browser-based calculators and converters, e.g. SIL, ASIL, CRC and number systems.
Go to toolsLooking for something specific?
If you have a question about safety system design, requirements engineering or functional safety standards, feel free to get in touch.
Get in touch →