System Safety Engineering and Risk Assessment


Book Description

We all know that safety should be an integral part of the systems that we build and operate. The public demands that they are protected from accidents, yet industry and government do not always know how to reach this common goal. This book gives engineers and managers working in companies and governments around the world a pragmatic and reasonable approach to system safety and risk assessment techniques. It explains in easy-to-understand language how to design workable safety management systems and implement tested solutions immediately. The book is intended for working engineers who know that they need to build safe systems, but aren’t sure where to start. To make it easy to get started quickly, it includes numerous real-life engineering examples. The book’s many practical tips and best practices explain not only how to prevent accidents, but also how to build safety into systems at a sensible price. The book also includes numerous case studies from real disasters that describe what went wrong and the lessons learned. See What’s New in the Second Edition: New chapter on developing government safety oversight programs and regulations, including designing and setting up a new safety regulatory body, developing safety regulatory oversight functions and governance, developing safety regulations, and how to avoid common mistakes in government oversight Significantly expanded chapter on safety management systems, with many practical applications from around the world and information about designing and building robust safety management systems, auditing them, gaining internal support, and creating a safety culture New and expanded case studies and "Notes from Nick’s Files" (examples of practical applications from the author’s extensive experience) Increased international focus on world-leading practices from multiple industries with practical examples, common mistakes to avoid, and new thinking about how to build sustainable safety management systems New material on safety culture, developing leading safety performance indicators, safety maturity model, auditing safety management systems, and setting up a safety knowledge management system




Engineering a Safer World


Book Description

A new approach to safety, based on systems thinking, that is more effective, less costly, and easier to use than current techniques. Engineering has experienced a technological revolution, but the basic engineering techniques applied in safety and reliability engineering, created in a simpler, analog world, have changed very little over the years. In this groundbreaking book, Nancy Leveson proposes a new approach to safety—more suited to today's complex, sociotechnical, software-intensive world—based on modern systems thinking and systems theory. Revisiting and updating ideas pioneered by 1950s aerospace engineers in their System Safety concept, and testing her new model extensively on real-world examples, Leveson has created a new approach to safety that is more effective, less expensive, and easier to use than current techniques. Arguing that traditional models of causality are inadequate, Leveson presents a new, extended model of causation (Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes, or STAMP), then shows how the new model can be used to create techniques for system safety engineering, including accident analysis, hazard analysis, system design, safety in operations, and management of safety-critical systems. She applies the new techniques to real-world events including the friendly-fire loss of a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter in the first Gulf War; the Vioxx recall; the U.S. Navy SUBSAFE program; and the bacterial contamination of a public water supply in a Canadian town. Leveson's approach is relevant even beyond safety engineering, offering techniques for “reengineering” any large sociotechnical system to improve safety and manage risk.




Systems Engineering and Safety


Book Description

Systems engineering principles are currently being applied to system safety best practices in several industries, as well as state and local governments. This book covers the payoff in both dollars and goodwill to the investment made in merging those two important and often neglected disciplines. It can be read, understood, and acted upon by the Chief Executive Officer of a multinational corporation, right down to the line manager of systems engineering or the technical professional in the safety department. The value in terms of cost savings, be it in the form of financial, human, or social capital, is clearly illustrated with real world examples.




System Safety Engineering and Management


Book Description

Comprehensive in scope, it describes the process of system safety--from the creation and management of a safety program on a system under development to the analysis that must be performed as this system is designed and produced to assure acceptable risk in its operation. Unique in its coverage, it is the only work on this subject that combines full descriptions of the management and analysis processes and procedures in one handy volume. Designed for both system safety managers and engineers, it incorporates the safety procedures used by the Department of Defense and NASA and explains basic statistical methods and network analysis methods which provide an understanding of the engineering analysis methods that follow.




Applied Safety for Engineers


Book Description

Global competition and other factors are forcing manufacturers to produce highly safe engineering systems and products. This book meets the needs for product designers, systems engineers, and safety engineers that work together and need a single resource which considers all three areas when designing new products and systems that they can refer to. Applied Safety for Engineers: Systems and Products serves as a comprehensive resource offering a wide range of safety topics when involved with product design, engineering system analysis, and engineering maintenance. Examples along with their solutions are placed at the end of each chapter to test reader comprehension. The book facilitates the importance for product designers, safety, and systems engineering professionals to work closely during the product design phase so they can understand each other’s discipline. Written in a manner that readers do not need any previous knowledge on the subject, the book offers many sources for further reading at the end of each chapter. This book will be useful to product designers, system engineers, safety specialists, graduate and senior undergraduate students, researchers and manufacturers, industrial engineers, safety engineers, and engineers-at-large.




Systems Analysis and Design for Safety


Book Description

Systems analysis and synthesis; Hazard analysis and cost effectiveness; Logical analysis; Probabilistic reliability considerations; Fault-tree analysis; Statistical analysis; Safety information system desing; Allocation of the safety budget; Case study: budget allocation applied to traffic safety; The right to be unsafe.




Safety Engineering


Book Description

The third edition of Safety Engineering: Principles and Practices has been thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded. It provides practical information for students and professionals who want an overview of the fundamentals and insight into the subtleties of this expanding discipline.Although this book primarily serves as a textbook, managers and technical personnel will find it a useful reference in dealing with complex safety matters and in planning worker training. This edition includes topics such as identifying regulatory requirements, handling contemporary problem that affect the modern worker, complying with record-keeping requirements, and much more. Many courses and curriculum focus on purely theoretical and scientific aspects of safety and related topics. Often, these students are lacking the fundamental concepts and principles that are required in the real world. Safety Engineering: Principles and Practices helps bridge the gap between what is typically taught and what is truly needed.




Requirements Engineering for Safety-Critical Systems


Book Description

Safety-Critical Systems (SCS) are increasingly present in people's daily activities. In the means of transport, in medical treatments, in industrial processes, in the control of air, land, maritime traffic, and many other situations, we use and depend on SCS. The requirements engineering of any system is crucial for the proper development of the same, and it becomes even more relevant for the development of SCS. Requirements Engineering is a discipline that focuses on the development of techniques, methods, processes, and tools that assist in the design of software and systems, covering the activities of elicitation, analysis, modeling and specification, validation, and management of requirements. The complete specification of system requirements establishes the basis for its architectural design. It offers a description of the functional and quality aspects that should guide the implementation and system evolution. In this book, we discuss essential elements of requirements engineering applied to SCS, such as the relationship between safety/hazard analysis and requirements specification, a balance between conservative and agile methodologies during SCS development, the role of requirements engineering in safety cases, and requirements engineering maturity model for SCS. This book provides relevant insights for professionals, students, and researchers interested in improving the quality of the SCS development process, making system requirements a solid foundation for improving the safety and security of future systems.




Process Systems Risk Management


Book Description

Process Systems Risk Management provides complete coverage of risk management concepts and applications for safe design and operation of industrial and other process facilities. The whole life cycle of the process or product is taken into account, from its conception to decommissioning. The breadth of human factors in risk management is also treated, ranging from personnel and public safety to environmental impact and business interruption. This unique approach to process risk management is firmly grounded in systems engineering. Numerous examples are used to illustrate important concepts –drawn from almost 40 years authors' experience in risk analysis, assessment and management, with applications in both on- and off-shore operations. This book is essential reading on the relevant techniques to tackle risk management activities for small-, medium- and large-scale operations in the process industries. It is aimed at informing a wide audience of industrial risk management practitioners, including plant managers, engineers, health professionals, town planners, and administrators of regulatory agencies. - A computational perspective on the risk management of chemical processes - A multifaceted approach that includes the technical, social, human and management factors - Includes numerous examples and illustrations from real life incidents




Automotive System Safety


Book Description

Contains practical insights into automotive system safety with a focus on corporate safety organization and safety management Functional Safety has become important and mandated in the automotive industry by inclusion of ISO 26262 in OEM requirements to suppliers. This unique and practical guide is geared toward helping small and large automotive companies, and the managers and engineers in those companies, improve automotive system safety. Based on the author’s experience within the field, it is a useful tool for marketing, sales, and business development professionals to understand and converse knowledgeably with customers and prospects. Automotive System Safety: Critical Considerations for Engineering and Effective Management teaches readers how to incorporate automotive system safety efficiently into an organization. Chapters cover: Safety Expectations for Consumers, OEMs, and Tier 1 Suppliers; System Safety vs. Functional Safety; Safety Audits and Assessments; Safety Culture; and Lifecycle Safety. Sections on Determining Risk; Risk Reduction; and Safety of the Intended Function are also presented. In addition, the book discusses causes of safety recalls; how to use metrics as differentiators to win business; criteria for a successful safety organization; and more. Discusses Safety of the Intended Function (SOTIF), with a chapter about an emerging standard (SOTIF, ISO PAS 21448), which is for handling the development of autonomous vehicles Helps safety managers, engineers, directors, and marketing professionals improve their knowledge of the process of FS standards Aimed at helping automotive companies—big and small—and their employees improve system safety Covers auditing and the use of metrics Automotive System Safety: Critical Considerations for Engineering and Effective Management is an excellent book for anyone who oversees the safety and development of automobiles. It will also benefit those who sell and market vehicles to prospective customers.