Systems Safety For the

High-Potential Accident
System Safety
Is a new and somewhat unknown
discipline to the industrial safety man.
Although at times he may feel that it is
of little or no value to him. There are no
concepts in System Safety that could be
usefully applied to industrial safety.
Principles of System Safety
a necessary pre-requisite with the study of
System Safety is:
a working knowledge of the principles of
systems of work;
 job safety analysis; and

 an appreciation of how hazard and

operability studies.
The stages Associated with System
Safety are:
1. The pre-accident identification of
potential hazard;
2. The timely incorporation of effective
safety-related design and operational
specification, provisions and criteria.
3. The evaluation of design and procedures
for compliance with applicable safety
requirements and criteria.
4. The continued surveillance over all safety
aspects throughout the total life-span-
including disposal of the system.

NOTE: System Safety – therefore be seen

to be an ordered monitoring program of the
system from a safety viewpoint.
The System
The System Under Review
 is the sum total of all component parts
working together within a given
environment, to achieve a given purpose
or mission within a given time over a
given life-span.
The System
The Element or Component Parts Within a
System will include:
 manpower

 materials

 machinery

 methods

Each system will have a series of phases

which follow a chronological pattern; the
sum total of which will equate to the over
all life span of the system.
Phases of the System
1. The conceptual phase.
2. The design and engineering phase.
3. The operational phase.
4. The disposal phase.
Phases of the System
1. The CONCEPTUAL PHASE –
 considers the basic principles of the
system and formulates the preliminary
designs and method of operation. It is
at this stage that hazard and
operability studies should be
undertaken
Phases of the System
2. The DESIGN and ENGINEERING PHASE
 develops the basic idea from the
conceptual phase, and augments
them to enable translation into
practical equipment and procedures
 This phase should include testing and
analysis of the various components to
ensure compliance with various
system specifications.
 It is at this stage that job safety
analysis should be undertaken.
Phases of the System
3. The OPERATIONAL PHASE –
 involves the bringing together of the
various components, i.e., manpower,
materials, machinery, methods; in order
to achieve the purpose of the system.
 From a practical viewpoint, it is at this
stage that safe systems of work should
be developed and communicated.
Phases of the System
4. The DISPOSAL PHASE –
 begins when machinery and manpower
are no longer needed to achieve the
purpose of the system.
 All components must be effectively
disposed of transferred, re-allocated or
placed into storage.
System Safety Engineering
System Safety Engineering
System Safety Engineering has been defined
as an element of systems engineering
involving the application of scientific and
engineering principles for the timely
identification of hazards and initiation of
those actions necessary to prevent or control
hazards within the system.
System Safety Engineering
It draws upon professional knowledge and
specialized skills in the mathematical,
physical and related scientific disciplines,
together with the principles and methods
of engineering design and analysis to
specify, predict and evaluate the safety of
the system.
Two(2) Basic and Interrelated Aspects
of System Safety Engineering
1. SYSTEM SAFETY MANAGEMENT
 provides the framework wherein the
findings and recommendations
resulting from the application of
system safety analysis techniques can
be effectively reviewed and
implemented.
Two(2) Basic and Interrelated
Aspects of System Safety Engineering

2. SYSTEM SAFETY ANALYSIS

 employ the three basic elements of
identification, evaluation and
communication to facilitate the
establishment of cause.
High-Potential Accidents
Those that did, or under similar
circumstances (or slightly different
ones) could, result in serious injury or
damaged.
High-Potential Accidents
This includes:
near misses in which no injury occurs,
and
incidents in which a person receives
only a minor injury
Principle of Loss Control
Stated that certain sets of
circumstances can predictably produce
severe injuries and that these potential
severe injuries can be identified and
thus controlled.
Different Fields of Endeavors
Industrial Safety – strives primarily to
control accident to employees on the
job
System Safety – has worked primarily in
the area of product safety in the
aerospace and automotive fields
Different Fields of Endeavors
Industrial Safety Engineer – operates in
a fixed manufacturing situations; Works
in the midst of hazards which have
often been there for a long time. Many
of which are accepted by production as
a necessary component of their way of
operating.
Different Fields of Endeavors
System Safety Engineer – first concern
is that a given system should work as it
had been designed to, that is, that the
design should be foolproof and it should
be impossible for anyone to get hurt.
System Safety Techniques then

Are the result of the need to eliminate

any hardware malfunctions or mistakes
in design that could have serious
consequences.
The Safety Professional
In most cases this man did not choose his
profession – it chooses him. In
industry, it is common for management
to select its safety specialist not for his
safety abilities and knowledge, but
rather because of demonstrated abilities
in some other field.
The Safety Professional
One day the future safety professional is
tapped on the shoulders by the boss,
and the job is given to him, either as a
full time position in management or in
addition to other duties.
The Safety Professional
He then usually finds himself in a
position where he must learn an entire
profession overnight and by himself.
And the next is history, you are now
what you are.