Functional Safety of Machinery - FS Technician

Australian and New Zealand work health and safety legislation requires that people and organisations undertaking work relevant to the management of safety at work during the life-cycle of plant must be competent to do so. This three (3) day course provides a pathway to a FS Technician (TÜV Rheinland) certificate in the Machinery area of the functional safety discipline with a particular emphasis on mining (and allied) industry applications within the Australian and New Zealand legislative context.

Students will learn how AS61508, AS62061, ISO13849 and allied standards influence the specification, design, installation, commissioning, validation, operation, maintenance, modification and decommissioning of safety-related systems in order to reduce risk from mining (and allied) industrial plant and machinery hazards and ensure the safety of people.

Furthermore, it covers the principles and topics of the Process / Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) area, for those who may be working in an industry (such as mining) where both machinery and process / SIS applications may occur.

Technicians and others working in the field of functional safety in the mining (or allied) industries in Australia and New Zealand, who do not have a bachelors or masters degree in engineering (or equivalent experience).

The pre-requisites are a technician’s qualification in a relevant discipline and a minimum of two (2) years experience working with mining (or allied) industrial plant or machinery.

The course will be of particular benefit to:

• maintenance planners and supervisors,
• instrumentation / control / electrical / electronics technicians, and
• mechanical technicians.
• field and control room operators,

And those involved in:

• installation, commissioning & testing,
• verification and validation,
• operation,
• maintenance,
• modification / change management, and
• decommissioning.

To attend and successfully complete this course, the following pre-requisites are recommended or required:

A completed and approved Functional Safety Technician Eligibility Form from TÜV Rheinland is required, demonstrating:

• A technicians qualification in a relevant discipline (eg. electrical, electronics, instrumentation, PLC’s, IT, software, mechanical).
• A minimum of two (2) years experience working with mining (or allied) industrial plant and machinery, verified by employer.
• Experience in mining (or allied) industrial machinery maintenance and / or operation, verified by employer.
• A basic working knowledge of electrical / electronic / programmable electronic or mechanical control / protective systems for mining (or allied) industrial machinery is recommended.
• An awareness of basic safety principles is recommended.
• The requirements to receive the Functional Safety Technician (TÜV Rheinland) certificate are:
• Successful completion of the three (3) day FS Technician (TÜV Rheinland) course.
• A grade of 70% or greater in the FS Technician (TÜV Rheinland) exam (see below).

Exam participants will receive individual notification of results and the FS Technician (TÜV Rheinland) certificate from TÜV Rheinland, if all eligibility requirements are fulfilled.

An exam is scheduled at the end of the last (third) day. Students must pass this exam and meet all other eligibility requirements to receive the Functional Safety Technician (TÜV Rheinland) certificate. Students may also attend the course without taking the exam.

1. This is an optional, closed-book examination.
2. No materials other than writing implements, blank paper and calculators may be taken into the examination.
3. You have one hundred (100) minutes to complete the examination paper.
4. There are a total of one hundred (100) marks available.
5. There are twenty (20) multiple-choice questions, each worth two (2) marks.
6. There are ten (10) short-answer questions, each worth six (6) marks. Each will require a response of approximately twenty-five (25) to fifty (50) words.
7. The pass mark for FS Technician (TÜV Rheinland) eligibility is 70 marks (ie. 70%).

To enhance and facilitate students’ learning experience, the following materials are provided to each student as part of the course package:

• A hard-copy of the student notes, covering the course material and key concepts.
• A hard-copy of the textbook “Functional Safety for the Mining and Machinery-based Industries”, Edition 2.
• An electronic copy of functional safety templates, covering the application of the course material and key concepts.

Please contact course provider