Is It Really a ’System’ without System Safety?

摘要

Managing risk for a complex, high-consequence system means assuring the system will do what it is supposed to do,but that if it fails, it will not produce undesired consequences. This assurance is not possible without carefulplanning; risk identification, assessment and control; design; manufacture; operation and maintenance. Theseactivities are in turn unlikely to be well executed without the help of a competent systems safety practitioner. But (weclaim) this help is not always being received. There are a number of possible explanations: there are not enoughpractitioners; their help is not always sought; their help is sought too late in the process; and if offered, theirsuggestions are ignored. The paucity of practitioners traces to biases in our institutions of higher learning. Their lackof use (given they are available) by industry is a result of over-focus on functionality while at the same timediscounting risk. We illustrate the dilemma by contrasting how an integrated circuit plant might be designed, builtand operated with and without the help of a systems safety practitioner.