How to manage risks with regard to electromagnetic disturbances

When Functional Safety or other risks must be managed throughout the lifecycle of an electronic system, the acceptable levels for risks that could be caused by electromagnetic (EM) disturbances are so small that they are incapable of being verified or validated by using only immunity testing, even with increased test levels. After 2000, many safety standards were published that required a risk-based approach to electromagnetic interference (EMI), although until 2013 there were no publications providing any practical guidance on how this could realistically be achieved. The first practical guidance was published in 2013 and is now being incorporated into IEC, IET and IEEE standards, and is the subject of this paper.