Technical installations and infrastructures are becoming more complex and increasingly interconnected. At the same time, requirements for safe, demonstrable and compliant operation are rising. TÜV NORD supports operators in identifying hazards at an early stage, assessing risks in a structured manner and deriving robust measures for safe, economical and efficient plant operation.
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Technical systems are becoming increasingly complex as a result of digitalisation, networked control and monitoring technology, new energy sources and complex process chains. At the same time, they still consist of technical, organisational and human components – safety therefore arises from the interaction of these elements. The Safety and Risk Assessments competence area carries out structured analyses to make hazards and risk potentials transparent – during planning, ongoing operation and in the context of plant modifications or extensions.
Technical systems, operating organisation and interfaces are considered in an integrated manner. The results provide protection‑goal‑oriented, traceable and standards‑compliant decision support for operators, designers, approval bodies and regulatory authorities.
Our work is based on recognised standards such as DIN EN ISO 31000 / 31010, IEC 60812, IEC 61025, DIN EN 61508 / 61511, DIN EN 62740 as well as relevant sector‑specific regulations.
TÜV NORD supports the entire safety and risk assessment process – from preparation through to implementation of the results:
Where required, adjacent TÜV NORD service areas – such as functional safety, information security or KRITIS certification – can be integrated to create a consistent safety and compliance framework.
Safety and risk assessments from TÜV NORD offer:
TÜV NORD applies established risk and safety analysis methods that are internationally recognised in safety‑critical industries. This results in transparent, comparable and standards‑compliant assessments that can be directly translated into decisions, evidence and concrete measures.
HAZID workshops are used to identify potential hazards at an early stage of a project or in the planning phase. Based on plant concepts, process flow diagrams and operating strategies, scenarios are collected, systematically evaluated and initial approaches to measures defined. The result is a structured overview of relevant hazards, providing the basis for subsequent detailed analyses.
HAZOP analyses systematically examine processes and plants for deviations from the desired state. Causes, effect pathways and potential consequences are identified for defined scope boundaries (e.g. plant components, process steps), and appropriate measures are derived. This enables vulnerabilities in process control, equipment and safety concepts to be identified and assessed in a structured manner.
For integrating systematic risk analyses into operator obligations and management systems – for example HAZOP studies as part of formal risk assessments – TÜV NORD offers additional services in the area of operator obligations management.
These methods enable a systematic evaluation of failure causes, failure combinations and event sequences and help to increase plant safety and availability in a targeted manner.
SIL studies in accordance with IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 are used to determine and assess safety‑related functions and protection layers. They include:
Further information on functional safety is available on the TÜV NORD topic page “Functional safety”.
In addition to purely technical aspects, TÜV NORD deliberately focuses on the interfaces between people, technology and organisation. Many safety‑relevant incidents arise from the interplay of work processes, operator behaviour, interfaces and system design.
Using MTO analyses, root cause analyses (RCA) in accordance with DIN EN 62740 and comprehensive incident investigations, TÜV NORD helps to:
The results feed into management systems, training structures and technical protective measures, and complement conventional hazard and risk analyses with a systemic perspective on people, technology and organisation.
Safety and risk assessments from TÜV NORD are used wherever complex technical systems have to meet high requirements in terms of safety, availability and compliance. Typical sectors and application areas include:
Selected reference scenarios illustrate how safety and risk assessments are translated into practical solutions:
