System safety engineering

and management

L.K.Nanda

Questions

1 What is safe?
2 What is system safety?
3 How to obtain the safety?

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 What is safe?
1) Freedom from accidents
Freedom from those conditions that can cause
death, injury, occupational illness or damage
to or loss of equipment or property, or damage
to environment.

2) The quality of a system that allows the

system to function under a predetermined
condition with an acceptable minimum of
accidental loss

What is system safety?

 The application of special technical and

managerial skills in a systematic, forward
looking manner to identify and control
hazards throughout the life cycle of a
project program, or activity.

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 How to obtain the safety?
• Engineering
– Control hazards through product design or process
change
• Education
– Train workers regarding all facets of safety
– Impose on management that attention to safety pays
off
• Enforcement
– Insure that internal and external rules, regulations, and
standard operating procedures are followed by workers
as well as management.

Contents

 Introduction of system safety

 system safety terms
 Risk Management
 Preliminary Hazard Analysis or
 White Paper on Approaches to Safety
Engineering
 Exercises

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Chapter1 Introduction of system
safety
1.1 What is System Safety?

What is “Safety”
 The goal of transforming the severity
and likelihood of risk that is inherent in
all human activity to lower, acceptable
levels

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 What is System Safety?
 System safety
 System Safety Philosophy
 Systems, Sub Systems and Elements
 Safety Attributes

System Safety

 The application of special technical

and managerial skills in a systematic,
forward looking manner to identify
and control hazards throughout the
life cycle of a project program, or
activity.

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1.2 Systems Safety Philosophy
 Systems Safety is the application of special technical and
managerial skills to identify, analyze, assess, and control
hazards and risks and facilitate cultural changes within an
organization.

 A systems is defined as a group of interrelated processes

which are composed of, People, Procedures, Equipment,
Materials, Tools Facilities, and Software, operating in a
specific environment to perform a specific task or mission
requirement for the USFS.

 Systems Safety covers the entire spectrum of risk

management, from design of hardware to the culture and
attitudes of the people involved. A system approach
provides a logical structure for the problem solving. It
views the entire systems as an integrated whole.

System Safety Philosophy

 Simply said: System Safety is the
review and validation of the Service
programs and procedures to determine
regulatory compliance and the highest
degree of safety possible.

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 System Safety Philosophy
System Safety is:
 Validation of Regulatory compliance
 Application of Safety Attributes
 Application of Risk Management

1.3 A System is ...

People
A set of
Procedures
Materials components
that act
SYSTEM Equipment together as
a whole to
Tools achieve a
common goal.
Software Facilities

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 Sub-systems
 An example of a sub-systems is: The
training program by which it is ensured
that personnel are trained to perform
assigned duties in accordance with the
FS needs and approved training
program

1.4 System Safety Attributes

 Responsibility
 Authority
 Procedures
 Controls
 Process Measurement
 Interface

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 Responsibility

Responsibility

Organization or
person who owns
the process and is
answerable for the
quality of the
process.

Authority

Authority

The organization or person

who determines the course of
action for a process.

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 Procedures
Procedures

Documented or
prescribed methods of
accomplishing processes.

Controls

Checks or restraints that are

designed into a process to
ensure a desired result.

Controls

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 Process Measurement

Process Measures or assesses

Measurement
information to identify,
analyze and document
potential problems with a
process.

Interfaces

Interfaces
Interactions
between
independent
processes.

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System Safety Attributes

Responsibility

Interfaces Authority

System Safety
Attributes
Process
Procedures
Measurement

Controls

1.5 Why System Safety

“It is insanity to
continue doing the
same thing over and
over and expect the
results to be
different...”

 Albert Einstein

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 1.6 The Old way of doing
business
 Fly-crash-fix-fly This old way of doing
business means there will always be a
next accident
 This method is referred to as BLOOD
REGULATIONS!
 If we keep doing things the same old
way, we will get the same results!

1.7 Are you safe Applying

System Safety?

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 System Safety is not a
replacement
 S/S brings us to the next level in a
forward thinking all encompassing
accident prevention management tool.

Practical Application
 Systems Safety
– Can be global
 The upstart of a new flying business
– Can be localized
 The launching of a single flight
 Each required a live safety system

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 Old school of thought

 If it will cause loss of life, injury, or loss

of equipment, don’t do it!

Previous Approach
 Addressed only the operational segment
of the safety system life cycle
– Evident today (the way we do business)
– Operation procedures are stagnant
– Training programs aren’t totally applicable
to the operations we do, (out dated)
– Relies too much on pilot certification,
experience, expertise and ability

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 New school of thought
(Systems Safety)
 If a function is necessary, then
EVERYONE must set about to find the
best and safest way to perform the
funtion
– No longer the pilot’s sole responsibility
– Management must be involved
– Find and implement the safest and best
solution

Today’s Approach
 Safety should begin at the design of the
organization
 Safety is not at any cost
 Must be within the constraints of the
real world

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 Systems Safety Objectives

 1. To design safety to meet the job

requirements and be practical.
 2. Identify, evaluate, and eliminate
hazards associated with all levels of the
operation.
 3. Use historical safety data.
 4. Seek minimum risk.
 5. Take actions to eliminate hazards.

Systems Safety Objectives

(Cont.)

 6. Minimize re-invention
 7. Implement program outlining actions
to eliminate hazards.
 8. Document significant safety data as
lessons learned.
 9. Document risk acceptance
procedures and actions.

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