Information provided here will help engineers, managers, and the general public better understand and promote system safety methods in order to reduce risk in complex systems. It will also raise awareness of the need to question these methods and express appropriate concerns about safety engineering and management efforts..
What is System Safety?
System safety is an accepted approach to analyze and manage hazards and risks in complex systems. Many different industries use system safety analyses and methods to help reduce the potential for harm to people, property and the environment. More...
What is a System Safety skeptic?
A System Safety Skeptic is one who uses knowledge, experience, and judgment to evaluate, question, and raise appropriate concerns about safety engineering and management. More...
Why be skeptical of System Safety analyses?
Advanced technologies and increasing automation have forever changed how systems work and how people interact with them. This results in increasingly complex transportation systems, energy production systems, medical devices, manufacturing processes, and many other systems. When used correctly, system safety methods can provide tremendous benefits, focusing resources to reduce risk and improve safety in these complex systems. But poor system safety analyses can lead organizations down the wrong path, spending resources on low risk activities while overlooking the larger risks. When applied inappropriately, system safety methods can lead to overconfidence, and can result in a misunderstanding of the potential for harm. Therefore, we must cultivate a healthy skepticism of safety engineering and management efforts.
