Definition:
A Competent Person is someone with the necessary education, training, experience, and ability to perform functional safety tasks reliably. The rules around this are established by the competency management system (CMS).
Key Points:
- Functional safety standards require that certain tasks be performed by competent persons.
- A FSM Plan/Procedure would go into the details of what qualification is required to do different tasks and who is qualified in the organization to do those tasks.
- Organizations must have documented competency management systems.
Example:
In a facility, a CFSE (Certified Functional Safety Expert) is considered a Competent Person to approve SIL verification calculations at most companies. But a non-certified engineer can prepare the calculations.
See Also: CMS
Cited Source:
- IEC 61511-1:2016, Clause 5.2.2.
- The 61508 Foundation – Competency Guidelines