Interface & Cartridge Architecture

A Safety Cartridge performs a defined protective, isolation, containment, warning, emergency, or damage-limitation function.

Examples include:

electrical protection modules;

emergency disconnects;

pressure-relief modules;

fire and smoke isolation modules;

leak-isolation Cartridges;

gas shutoff modules;

structural energy-dissipation fuses;

emergency lighting units;

alarm and evacuation modules;

local life-safety communication units.

Each Safety Cartridge shall identify:

protected hazard;

protected zone;

initiating condition;

sensing method;

protective action;

required response time;

safe state;

independence requirements;

redundancy;

manual activation;

manual override;

reset authority;

inspection and test frequency;

end-of-life condition.

Safety Cartridges shall be located so that their protective function is not defeated by the same event they are intended to control. For example, a leak-isolation Cartridge shall not rely solely upon electronics located within an immediately flooded, unprotected zone.

Removal of a Safety Cartridge shall automatically place the affected system into a restricted, isolated, or maintenance state unless an equivalent temporary protection has been verified.

Bypass or override shall be time-limited, authorized, visible, and recorded. Silent permanent bypass shall not be permitted.

The Safety Cartridge shall support functional testing without unnecessarily creating the hazard it is intended to detect.

Safety-integrity levels, redundancy requirements, proof-test intervals, and certification procedures remain TBD for each hazard class.