System Safety Courses

System safety is a specialty within system engineering that supports program risk management. It is the application of engineering and management principles, criteria and techniques to optimize safety.

The goal of System Safety is to optimize safety by the identification of safety related risks, eliminating or controlling them by design and/or procedures, based on acceptable system safety precedence.

All experts in this area agree: System safety must be planned. It is an integrated and comprehensive engineering effort that requires a trained staff experienced in the application of safety engineering principles.

The effort should be interrelated, sequential and continuing throughout all program phases. The plan must influence facilities, equipment, procedures and personnel.

Planning should include transportation, logistics support, storage, packing, and
handling, and should address Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) and Non-developmental Items (NDI).

System safety hazard analysis is concerned primarily with the identification and control of hazard probability and severity of a given project, system, or program.

System Safety can be thought of as the product safety function of Systems Engineering. The goal of System Safety is to identify risks inherent in a design and suggest risk mitigation measures as the design progresses.

This means that system safety engineers need experience with the type of system being designed, the risks presented, and safeguards used in the past.

Another important system safety area is in the aviation sector.

System safety is a design discipline comprising tools and techniques to identify and analyze aircraft hazards during the design process, and provide a management framework to evaluate and treat the resultant risks.

A system safety program contributes to the safety of aircraft operation by identifying, analyzing, evaluating and treating hazards to aviation, personnel, public safety and the environment.

The FAA does this by performing Design Assessments (DA) and Performance Assessments (PA) based on system safety principles. Certificate Holders fulfill their responsibilities by designing operations systems that manage hazard-related risks and by providing service with the highest degree of safety in the public interest. These concepts are fundamental to SAS (Safety Assurance System). SAS is based on system safety principles, safety attributes, and risk management process (RMP).

SAS fulfills the goals of system safety to:

• Optimize safety by identifying safety-related risks
• Eliminate or control risks through design and/or performance oversight

In 2016, the Safety Assurance System was rolled out to create a standardized risk-based, data-supported oversight system across Flight Standards Service (FS), Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (AXH), and other Aviation Safety (AVS) Offices.

SAS is the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) oversight tool to perform certification, surveillance, and Continued Operational Safety (COS). SAS includes policy, processes, and associated software that FS, AXH, and other AVS Offices use to capture data when conducting oversight.

In recent history, aviation system safety has expanded into the commercial space realm.

The FAA is the overseer here as well.

While space travel may make you think of NASA, FAA is the agency responsible for making sure commercial space launches get off the ground safely. Commercial space operators that want to launch or reenter within U.S. borders need an FAA license.

The FAA enforces some safety requirements through its licensing process. To be granted a license, operators must demonstrate that they can conduct the operation without jeopardizing the safety of the public and property not involved in the launch.

The FAA is also expected to have an expanded authority to protect the health and safety of humans onboard commercial space launches.

The commercial space industry is rapidly growing as private companies transport cargo, satellites and people to space. The FAA is working with industry as it prepares to potentially expand its oversight of operations with people on board.

Recent estimates suggest an extraordinary economic potential for the commercial space travel industry, with significant growth expected over the next decade. A report by UBS indicates that the market for space tourism could reach $4 billion annually by 2030.

Systems Safety Course by Tonex

System Safety Courses covers important system safety concepts and techniques used in planning, designing, implementing, testing and operating safety-critical systems.

Participants learn about  fundamental concepts of system safety engineering, systems safety control, nature of risk, accident and human error models, causes of accidents, system hazard analysis, designing for safety, fault tolerance, safety issues in the design of human-machine interaction, verification of safety, creating a safety culture, and management of safety-critical projects.

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