Protection monitoring system with fault indicators

An industrial automation system comprising:

• a protection system configured to protect machinery;
• and
• a protection monitoring system comprising:
• a protection fault relay configured to activate upon receipt of a protection fault signal, wherein the protection fault signal is indicative of a first type of alert related to a fault in a critical path of the protection system, wherein the protection fault relay triggers for the first type of alert and shuts down an industrial automation system protected by the protection system;
• and
• a secondary relay configured to alleviate potential congestion of the protection fault relay and to block potential shutdown for bypasses or non-critical faults, wherein the secondary relay is configured to activate upon receipt of a second type of alert comprising an inhibit, and the protection fault relay and the secondary relay are arranged in parallel to each other to operate independently of each other.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, wherein the instructions are configured to:

• receive, at a protection monitoring system, a protection fault signal, wherein the protection fault signal is indicative of a critical fault which has occurred in a protection system monitored by the protection monitoring system;
• upon receipt of the protection fault signal, trip a protection fault relay to shut down an industrial automation system protected by the protection system;
• receive, at the protection monitoring system, a user inhibit signal or bypass indicative of a user-enabled alarm inhibit or a user-enabled bypass;
• and
• upon receipt of the user inhibit signal, trip a secondary relay, wherein the protection fault relay and the secondary relay are arranged in parallel to each other to operate independently of each other.