A safety control device comprises: at least one input module having a number of input interfaces; at least one output module having a number of output interfaces; and a computing unit that includes: a programmable processor; a read-only memory to store an operating program for the processor with program code in machine-readable form for providing a function library with a number of functions of the safety control device; and a non-volatile, overwritable storage medium. A number of function activation codes are stored downloadably in the storage medium, and each of the function activation codes is capable of being assigned a function of the function library such that by logically linking the function activation codes to their associated functions of the function library only those functions of the function library can be activated whose function activation codes are stored in the storage medium.