Preparations for IEC/TC9 safety standards are now well underway, in that the CDVs (Committee Drafts for Vote) of CENELEC standards EN 50126 (RAMS), EN 50128 (Software) and EN 50159 (Safety-related communication) have now been voted on. EN 50129 (Safety acceptance approval) has not yet been included but will be circulated soon. It appears that these CENELEC standards will eventually be adopted as international standards. In Japan safety guidelines based on IEC 61508 were established in 1996, and they compile the necessary conditions for safety management and technical activities throughout lifecycles together with the necessary technical conditions which have been cultivated in railway signalling in Japan. This paper outlines the above-mentioned CENELEC safety standards and their relationship to Japanese safety guidelines, and discusses implications, including quantitative safety analyses, and organisational and legal matters.

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