What is BS EN 50129 - Safety-related electronic systems for railway signalling about?
BS EN 50129 is a safety standard for railway applications that discusses best practices for optimal performance of safety-related electronic systems for signalling.
BS EN 50129 is applicable to safety-related electronic systems (including subsystems and equipment) for railway signalling applications.
BS EN 50129 applies to generic systems (i.e., generic products or systems defining a class of applications), as well as to systems for specific applications.
BS EN 50129 applies to all the phases of the life cycle of a safety-related electronic system, focusing in particular on phases from 5 (architecture and apportionment of system requirements) to 10 (system acceptance) as defined in EN 50126-1:2017.
BS EN 50129 is primarily applicable to systems, subsystems, or equipment that have been specifically designed and manufactured for railway signalling applications. It should also be applied, so far as reasonably practicable, to general-purpose or industrial equipment (e.g., power supplies, display screens, or other commercial off-the-shelf items), which is procured for use as part of a safety-related electronic system. As a minimum, evidence should be provided in such cases to demonstrate either:
- That the equipment is not relied on for safety, or
- That the equipment can be relied on for those functions which relate to safety
Note: BS EN 50129 is not applicable to existing systems, subsystems, or equipment that had already been accepted prior to the creation of this document. However, so far as reasonably practicable, it should be applied to modifications and extensions to existing systems, subsystems, and equipment.
Note: It is not intended to deal with other aspects of safety such as the occupational health and safety of personnel. While functional safety of systems clearly can have an impact on the safety of personnel, there are other aspects of system design that can also affect occupational health and safety, and which are not covered by BS EN 50129.
Who is BS EN 50129 - Safety-related electronic systems for railway signalling for?
BS EN 50129 on safety-related electronic systems for signalling is relevant to:
- Railway duty holder
- Railway safety authorities
- Train operating companies (TOCs)
- Railway suppliers and assessors
Why should you use BS EN 50129 - Safety-related electronic systems for railway signalling?
BS EN 50129 covers details for the specification, allocation and implementation of safety requirements and safety integrity, and the use of Safety Integrity Levels in safety-related systems for railway application.
By complying with best industry quality management, safety management and technical defences, hazardous systematic faults from hardware or software and those caused by human error in the various stages of the system, subsystem or equipment life cycle, can be minimized.
As a result, you can enhance the safety integrity by demonstrating the ability of a safety-related system to achieve its required safety functions. For this, BS EN 50129 provides best industry safety integrity requirements that ensures both, the systematic and the random failure integrity requirements to achieve adequate safety integrity are met.
Moreover, efficient risk assessment processes can help refine the product hazards, identify their causes and consequences, evaluate the risk, and define the mitigation strategy in compliance with the allocated safety target.
