The Maturing of Safety Into an Engineering Discipline

The increased use of equipment both within and outside industry and the increased complexity of the equipment have heightened the requirement for system safety, that is, the assurance that products will perform their intended functions with optimum safety within the constraints of operational effectiveness. This paper traces the growth pattern of industrial (workman) safety concepts, demonstrates that a similar growth pattern is being followed by system safety requirements, and establishes the importance of safety in the design process as part of the over-all system safety concept. Also presented are brief descriptions of specific engineering techniques which can be used by the design engineer to achieve safety in product design.