Rapid Growth of ABB's Safety Execution Centers Underscores Global Demand for Reliable Safety Solutions
Dedicated expert teams provide flawless safety project execution, solutions, consulting services
Oslo, Norway, March 3, 2010 -.ABB's global network of Safety Execution Centers (SEC) has grown significantly over the past four years, expanding from eight centers to twenty, located in every region. These centers provide customers with local resources for safety instrumented system (SIS) design, engineering and project execution, as well as access to resident safety standards experts and technology experts. In total, this global team includes more than 500 TÃœV certified and ABB technology certified safety engineers.
ABB currently has more safety centers with TÃœV certification for Functional Safety Management System (FSMS) delivery and implementation than any other supplier in the industry. Eight of ABB's Safety Execution Centers have been certified by TÃœV Rheinland, one of the leading world specialists in the assessment and certification of organizations and products to safety standards.
With the protection of personnel, plant and the local community becoming an even greater priority for all industries, the need for reliable safety automation solutions and repeatable best practices is more critical than ever before. Industry analyst firm ARC predicts that this market will continue to see steady growth for the next several years. Customer demand for these solutions support this trend, as the number of global deliveries for ABB's System 800xA High Integrity integrated SIS increased by 55 percent during 2009.
ABB's proven methodology for delivering safety systems meets international standards and best practices, and ensures consistent, flawless execution of these projects all over the world.
"ABB is committed to providing our customers with the resources, technology and tools they need to help them operate their plants more safely, as well as protect their employees, the environment and the surrounding community," said Stuart Nunns, global manager of ABB's Safety Execution Center program. "The need for reliable engineering resources and quality safety automation solutions has exponentially grown over the past few years; the depth and scope of our regulatory, technical and project execution knowledge provides our customers with the trusted expertise they need to successfully protect the integrity of their process, plant and people."
In late 2009, ABB Safety Execution Centers in Beijing and Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India were certified by TÃœV as having in place and applying an FSMS for delivery and implementation of safety system projects in accordance to international industry standards. ABB also recently announced that its Safety Execution Center Buenos Aires, Argentina was certified by TÃœV. Other TÃœV certified centers are located in Denmark, Germany, Italy Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
TÃœV certification recognizes that ABB's functional safety management system complies with international standards and good practices for its products, engineering and project teams and installation methods. It meets all relevant sections of international standards IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 for integration and implementation of safety instrumented system (SIS), including system design, configuration, application programming, testing and SIL achievement for specific industrial safety applications.
ABB has been at the forefront of safety system development and delivery since 1979, when it commissioned the first emergency shut down system on the Statfjord B offshore oil platform in the North Sea. ABB commemorated its 30 years of extensive safety experience in 2009; these solutions have protected literally generations of personnel and processes.
In November 2008, ABB also released its latest generation of the System 800xA High Integrity safety system. This SIL 3 rated Safety Instrumented System (SIS) provides the highest level of integration of safety and control on the market today, and a unique embedded diverse technology architecture that provides superior protection of the process, plant, personnel, and the environment while it optimizes overall process efficiency.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.
