Functional Safety
Functional safety is part of the overall safety of a system that depends on automatic protection.
It needs to respond correctly to input. If random, systematic and/or common cause faults don’t lead to malfunction of safety-relevant systems safety for the end user can be ensured. As a result, people neither get harmed nor injured and disastrous effects on nature are prevented.
Holistic approach from concept to certification as development partner
Equipped for modular and future solutions
30+ years of industry knowledge and expertise
Accredited certification services for various industries
Different Norms and Standards exist for each Industry
Functional safety is a complex issue. Safety requirements and norms differ from industry to industry. The “IEC 61508” is the umbrella safety standard which covers functional safety matters for electric, electronic, and programmable electronic safety-related systems. Our experts support your individual needs regarding the relevant safety standards derived from your industry to minimize the risk of malfunctions.

Functional Safety in Automotive (ISO 26262)
The ISO 26262 standards defines functional safety in the automotive industry and for road vehicles. It ensures that vehicles are designed and built functionally safe by implementing efficient safety management throughout the complete life-cycle.

The number of components and functions in a car are extremely high, due to a higher level of comfort and driver assistance systems. In this context, functional safety is a requirement to ensure that the vehicle as an automotive system is as reliable as possible and guarantees the safety of the driver as an active user and all other traffic participants.
Nevertheless, the electronic system can fail due to random, systematic and/or common cause faults during development and manufacturing process. Therefore, the design, built and architecture of a car must reduce any risk in or malfunction of its electronic systems.
Functional Safety Services
- Training and Personal Certification
- Product Assessment and Certification
- SEooC Certification
- Process Certification
- Certification of Operating Systems and Tool-Chains
- Consulting
DEKRA is offering qualified functional safety training and personal qualification for the automotive- and process industry – as an accredited service provider.
Functional Safety Personal Certification ISO 26262
- Professional Functional Safety Engineer Automotive (PFSEA)
- Professional Functional Safety Manager Automotive (PFSMA)
Functional Safety Personal Certification IEC 61508
- Professional Functional Safety Engineer Process-Industry (PFSEP)
- Professional Functional Safety Manager Process-Industry (PFSMP)
DEKRA offers product assessment and certification for all industries tailored to your needs. Reduce failures during the development and risk in case of a litigation. For example:
Process Industry
- Adjustable Safety Drives
- Light Curtain
- Safety Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
- Controller for Robots
- Proximity switches with safety Function
Automotive
- Battery Management System (BMS)
- Advanced Driver Assisstant System (ADAS)
- Automatic Park System (APS)
- Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
Safety Elements out of Context (SEooC) are safety-related elements which are not developed for a specific application or customer. Our experts support you to achieve a SEooC certification to meet the required safety standards. For example:
- Microcontrollers
- Camera Chips
- Radar Chips
- Infotainment Chips
- Analog & Digital Semiconductors
DEKRA contributes to enhance the performance and confidence of the functional safety process in your company, by implementing or reviewing a Functional Safety & Security Management in Development and Manufacturing.
Overall Safety Management
- Allocation of Safety
- Safety Culture
- Training and Qualification
During Development
- Establishment of a Competence Management System
- Safety Plan
- Assessments
- Review and Audits
After Start of Production
- Definition of procedures
- Implementation of Functional Safety Management
- Tool Qualification Plan
- Tool Use-Cases
- Qualification Methods
- Constrains and Malfunctions
- Application Information
With our DEKRA certification program and test seal, we confirm the usability of a tool or a selected tool chain. The advantages are clear:
- Reduction of costs for time-consuming tool qualifications
- Ensuring and maintaining the tool chain qualification and update process
- Proof that the tool chain and the procedures comply with the principles of safety standards
- Confirmation that the management activities applied comply with best practices
- Management Consulting
- Technical Consulting
- Overall Safety Life-cycle
The Key for Safe and Secure Solutions
As electronic features proliferate and systems become more and more connected, hackers have an ever-greater surface to attack. Because of this, a holistic perspective on safety and security is essential.
While functional safety addresses systematic and random faults resulting in malfunctioning behavior of electric or electronic systems, cyber security addresses issues resulting from malicious intent of externals to the electric or electronic system.
Therefore, functional safety and cyber security are vital parts of the same picture – both for keeping systems safe from internal failures and protecting them from external attacks.
The key for safe and secure solutions is the collaboration between functional safety and cyber security!