GUIDE5 min readUpdated Jun 2026

Safety & compliance: where a PLC stays

The line we won't cross — safety-instrumented functions belong on certified hardware.

SHORT ANSWER

A Raspberry Pi is not, and should not pretend to be, a safety-rated controller. Safety-instrumented functions — where failure can hurt people — belong on IEC 61508 / 61511 SIL-certified hardware. We keep safety on certified gear and run the Pi for monitoring, optimization, AI and non-safety control alongside it. Anyone selling a Pi as a safety PLC is selling you risk.

IEC 61508
the functional-safety standard
IEC
SIL
safety integrity levels a PLC certifies to
Beside
the Pi runs non-safety functions

01What certification buys

A SIL rating is documented, audited evidence that a function fails safely at a known probability. That process — not just the hardware — is what you're paying for, and it's why safety functions stay on certified controllers.

02What the Pi does instead

Everything that isn't a safety-instrumented function: monitoring, analytics, vision, optimization and non-safety control. It runs beside the safety system, reading the same world, without ever being in the safety path.

Common questions

The ones we're asked on every first call.

A specific certified product could be, but a general-purpose Pi running Linux isn't, and we won't represent it as one. The responsible design keeps safety on certified gear.

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