The FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate is issued by TÜV Rheinland to persons who have many years of practice-oriented professional experience and intensive, high-level specialist knowledge in functional safety.
These are engineers who have the appropriate high-level expert knowledge and have worked for many years in their companies not only as project managers, but also as knowledge mediators and trainers in the field of functional safety. These individuals are proactively involved in relevant standards committees, organisations and associations. They share their knowledge at congresses and conferences and thus support and disseminate the right philosophy of functional safety worldwide.
It is TÜV Rheinland's intention to support these committed individuals and to confirm their commitment and expert knowledge by issuing the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate.
In recent years, the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate has gained immense recognition worldwide in industry and the relevant sectors. Clients - plant operators, end users, EPC's - are aware that the standards IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 require proof of competence of persons (knowledge, skills and experience) for the execution of safety-related projects. As a result, many project managers or senior engineers and consultants now have to prove that they hold an FS Expert certificate issued by TÜV Rheinland.
All holders of an FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate are assessed by the team of senior experts in Functional Safety of TÜV Rheinland. The intensive assessment of this expert team decides whether the requirements for the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate are fulfilled by applicants or not.
Topics
The FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) status as well as certificate can be obtained in the following application areas:
- Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS)
- Hardware / Software Design acc. to IEC 61508
- Functional Safety of Machinery
- Automotive ISO 26262
- Process Hazard & Risk Analysis (PH&RA)
- Functional Safety Management (only for persons involved in the FSM certification process performed by TÜV Rheinland.)
List of FS Experts
Please see the current „List of FS Experts“ and click here.
Requirements
Persons who wish to obtain the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate must fulfil the following general requirements:
- At least 10 years of professional experience in the relevant field.
- Engineering diploma or technical degree.
- Holder of a FS Engineer (TÜV Rheinland) certificate.
- Participation in safety standards/institutes committees.
- Demonstrated Skills and Practical application experience.
- Understanding of safety standards.
- FS presentations at conferences, congresses and technical events
- Author or co-author of technical documentation (like white papers, reports, magazine articles etc.)
- Broadcaster of FS knowledge in company (internal trainings etc.)
- Trainer regarding topics in Functional Safety.
The following documents are required:
- Filled in application form sheet.
- Detailed CV incl. photography
- Copy of engineering diploma or degree.
- Two reference letters written and issued by at least one FS Experts and customers.
- One case study (5-10 pages) acc. to the defined topic (no project documents and written in own words.)
- Example/copy of white paper or applied training material.
These documents shall be sent to TÜV Rheinland:
- After positive approval of the required documents, an interview is set up between the applicant and an FS Senior Expert (TÜV Rheinland).
- The applicant is contacted by TÜV Rheinland and a date for the interview will be agreed upon.
- This interview will be made either by telephone of by skype (or other means).
- The interview will take between 1-2 hours.
- Final approval is given by TÜV Rheinland and the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate issued upon positive review of documents and positive result of interview.
Persons, who wish to apply for the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate and status should contact TÜV Rheinland by email.
Validity
The FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) is valid for three years.
The validity of the FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certificate can be extended.
Please contact TÜV Rheinland approx. 3 months before validity expires by email.
Trainers
Persons who hold FS Engineer Trainings within the framework of the TÜV Rheinland Functional Safety Training Program and as accepted course provider must be FS Experts (TÜV Rheinland) and hold a valid certificate in the relevant field of application.
The certificate FS Expert (TÜV Rheinland) certifies that the holder is an accepted trainer for a specific FS Engineer Training and accepted course provider.
(Persons holding an FS Technician Training must provide proof of an FS Engineer (TÜV Rheinland) certificate and prove an internal qualification as a trainer of the accepted course provider).