IDC Technologies recently hosted the Safety Control Systems Conference in Midrand. Local and international experts presented papers on a variety of key topics.

IDC Technologies' technical director, Steve Mackay, opened the conference and handed over to Clive Timms who had flown in from the United Kingdom for the event. His vast experience includes many years in the petrochemical industry and he is now a director of Asset Integrity Management, which specialises in the application of the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 standards. This was reflected in the first paper that he presented: A Practitioners Approach to IEC 61508/61511.

The engineering specialists and technicians who attended the SCS Conference gained valuable knowledge on the range of safety technologies for process and machinery protection. Apart from the interactive and practical workshops preceding the conference, many of the speakers encouraged discussion and questions from delegates.

Feedback from the delegates was favourable. As a result of interactive discussions it was clear that South Africa requires a committee to monitor safety systems and therefore a Functional Safety Society (FSS) is to be founded. IDC Technologies will initially fund the project and it will be directed by Dave Macdonald, one of the conference presenters and an IDC instructor and engineer.

IDC was grateful to have the support of its sponsors: Exida, Honeywell, Siemens, Yokogawa, and the official publication sponsor, SA Instrumentation & Control.

For more information contact IDC Technologies, 0800 114 160.