An adverse outcome pathway framework to support the assessment of DART liabilities of compounds

Abstract

Recent developments in technology and the move towards efficient utilisation of resources have inspired researchers and practitioners to come up with cost-effective approaches to Safety Integrity Level (SIL) determination and calculation as the current methods are too cumbersome and time-consuming. The bottom line is meeting the organisation's safety requirements in an economical manner regardless of methodology employed without sacrificing accuracy. This paper proposes the Funnel Risk Graph Method (FRGM) as a funnel technique to assess lower SIL ratings, whilst more complex methods can be applied on higher SILs with caution. A review of various target SIL determination and calculation methods in the life cycle of a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) is also presented and compared as per the criteria of relevant qualifying factors. The key outcome of this review is that the qualitative FRGM can be used as a funnel technique to assess lower SIL ratings whilst more complex methods are applied on higher SILs with caution.