A safety network for supporting one or more devices in intermittent use, the safety network being susceptible of verification and/or validation as a safety loop and including a safety controller configured to



assess the integrity of the safety network, and
monitor safety sensors and cause safety actuators to respond to any detected safety events in accordance with safety rules.




The safety network implements safety representatives, each configured to



maintain a virtual representation of an associated device in intermittent use, including at least one virtual safety sensor and/or virtual safety actuator,
make the virtual representation available for integrity assessment and monitoring by the safety controller, and
perform wireless data synchronization between the virtual representation and the associated device.




The virtual representation further includes an activation indicator, which determines a safety rule for the safety controller's monitoring and/or for the safety representative's data synchronization.