Accreditation to safety-critical automotive quality standard

As a result, the most stringent quality standards must be applied to these systems and any associated sub-systems.

ISO26262 is an adaption of the industrial safety standard (IEC 61508) that specifically relates to electrical and electronic equipment in road vehicles. It is a true ‘cradle to grave’ approach that covers all stages of a system’s life from concept through design to production and ultimately, obsolescence.

The standard defines four automotive safety integrity levels (ASIL) with D being the most stringent. The different levels will be applied to systems and sub-systems, depending upon the possible severity of a failure.

Within the standard, a system is considered to be functionally safe if any random failures, systematic failures and common cause failures do not lead to a malfunction of the safety-relevant system. Ultimately, ISO26262 intends to prevent any injury or fatality to people in the vehicle or other road users.

As a result of their accreditation to ISO26262, UTAC will create, foster and sustain a safety culture that supports and encourages the effective achievement of functional safety which will include the creation of specific rules and processes.

UTAC are already qualified to ISO9001 which ensures broad product quality, as well as IATF16949 that focuses upon the characteristics of the automotive product development process. ISO26262 will add a further layer of quality that specifically manages all safety-critical automotive projects.

Commenting on the ISO26262 certification, Darren Smith, Senior Vice President of QRA, CSR, EHS at UTAC said: “We are delighted to receive this accreditation. It is the result of significant work by our talented employees and further demonstrates the importance of the automotive market to our business, and our commitment to achieve the highest levels of quality.

“Automotive customers can now be further assured that even the most safety-critical automotive systems developed and / or manufactured by UTAC will meet the very highest levels of safety, both now and in the future.”