SafetyBUS p club international elects UK-based chairman

Citation

(2003), "SafetyBUS p club international elects UK-based chairman", Assembly Automation, Vol. 23 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2003.03323aab.001

SafetyBUS p club international elects UK-based chairman

SafetyBUS p club international elects UK-based chairman

Keywords: SafetyBUS, Fieldbus, Safety

At the annual members' meeting of the independent SafetyBUS p club international e.V., Dr Richard Piggin was elected chairman for the next 3 years (Plate 1). This is the first time that a chairman has been elected from outside Germany, the birthplace of SafetyBUS, reflecting the way in which SafetyBUS p is being increasingly adopted as the fieldbus-of-choice for safety-critical applications around the world.

Plate 1 SafetyBUS p club international e.V. has elected Dr Richard Piggin as its new chairman

Based in the UK, Dr Piggin is keen to start a UK branch of the SafetyBUS p club in order to provide better support for the many SafetyBUS users in this country. His intention is to have this operating by the end of 2002. This also illustrates the way in which Dr Piggin wants to move the club forward, encouraging more users to join so that the vendors and users can co-operate more closely on future developments.

Other initiatives announced by Dr Piggin include a new group for systems integrators that will help to ensure the competence of installers through recognised training programmes - in line with the requirements of the IEC 61508 family of standards. It is also intended that the club will become a general discussion forum where all aspects of automation safety can be discussed, not just the technicalities of the SafetyBUS system.

Dr Piggin says: "I welcome this opportunity to take the club forwards, to help it mature and gain in strength. There are many exciting developments in the pipeline that will enable SafetyBUS to be used in an ever-wider range of safety-critical applications. I firmly believe that the club is now in a position to develop so that SafetyBUS becomes the best-supported of any of the fieldbuses for safety applications."

Alongside Dr Piggin there is a board of directors for the club, all of whom were re-elected by the members. Also at the same meeting, seven new members were confirmed, including Honeywell, Wenglor Sensoric, the University of Warwick and Nihon University of Japan.

For more information about the SafetyBUS p club international e.V., please contact: Dr Richard Piggin. Tel: 01536 462205; E-mail: r.piggin@safetybus.co.uk