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Blog Safety Management

Risk: Averse, Adverse, or Appetite?

Surfer in Big Wave
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You heard me right. Risk: Averse, Adverse, or Appetite? Which would you choose? Do we even have a choice? Read on …

We often hear that we live in a risk-averse society.  By that, I mean that we don’t want to take risks, or that we’re too timid.  I don’t think that’s the whole story.

In reality, we need to deal with several concepts.  Let’s start by looking at risk:

  • Aversity;
  • Adversity;
  • Appetite; and then
  • Perception.

Risk Adverse versus Risk Averse

These terms are often used incorrectly, so here’s a useful comparison:

Many people are confused when faced with the choice between adverse and averse.  While these two adjectives have many similarities, they are not used interchangeably.
If you want to describe a negative reaction to something (such as a harmful side effect from medication) or dangerous meteorological conditions (such as a snowstorm), adverse is the correct choice. You would not say that you had an ‘averse’ reaction to medication or that there was ‘averse’ weather.
In short, adverse tends to be used to describe effects, conditions, and results; while averse refers to feelings and inclinations.”[1]

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Risk Adverse

A Formal Definition of Adverse

Again, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary sails to the rescue:

  • 1: acting against or in a contrary direction:
    • HOSTILE,
    • hindered by adverse winds
  • 2a: opposed to one’s interests,
    • an adverse verdict,
    • heard testimony adverse to their position,
    • especially: UNFAVORABLE,
    • adverse criticism
  • b: causing harm: HARMFUL, adverse drug effects
  • 3: archaic: opposite in position”[2]

This is all very well, but we need something that we can use, like a…

…Practical Definition of Risk Adverse

The Law Insider website provides a very useful definition of ‘Risk Adverse’.   

“Adverse Risk means any risk of an adverse effect on the Development, procurement or maintenance of Regulatory Approval, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Product.”[3]

Law Insider

It’s useful because it is so pertinent to safety.  Let me explain. Often, we want to develop a product or service, but there are:

  • Development risks – often called Project Management risks, as a development is often the focus of a project.  Remember that the ISO 31000 defines risk as “the effect of uncertainty on objectives”.  By definition, a project has specific objectives (e.g., budget, schedule, and quality). 
  • Procurement risks – when acquiring a new product or service and enterprise may also acquire development risks, for the new or upgraded thing.  There are also risks associated with contractual acceptance, fielding the product, etc.
  • In many industries and domains, regulatory approval may be needed.  This may require qualification, certification, or accreditation (or a combination thereof).
  • Commercialization risks include making a product commercially viable, positioning it in the market, and gaining user and/or public acceptance.     

Each one of these topics is a massive subject, about which countless books have been written.  Law Insider’s definition is very powerful!

Risk Averse

So, risk aversion is about feelings and inclinations.  This is such a familiar topic, that perhaps we don’t bother to explore it. Later on in this post, we will explore Risk Aversion by looking at Risk Perception.

Before we do that, let’s look at the opposite of Risk Aversion.

Risk Appetite

“Risk appetite is the level of risk that an organization is prepared to accept in pursuit of its objectives, before action is deemed necessary to reduce the risk. It represents a balance between the potential benefits of innovation and the threats, that change inevitably brings. The ISO 31000 risk management standard refers to risk appetite as the “Amount and type of risk that an organization is prepared to pursue, retain or take”. This concept helps guide an organization’s approach to risk and risk management.”[4]

Wikipedia

Risk appetite is a really interesting concept.  The definition is that risk appetite is the level of risk that a person or organization is prepared to accept in pursuit of objectives. 

Why is Risk Useful?

Risk is necessary because we need to take risks to do almost anything. Every time we breathe in, every time we eat or drink something, we’re taking a risk.

It’s the same for businesses, enterprises, and nations.  If we keep on doing the same old thing again and again, eventually someone else will come along and outcompete us.  Ironically, the risk is that we fail to adapt and cease to exist – Darwinian selection. 

A great example of this is the Kodak corporation.  For years Kodak dominated the photography market.  However, they failed to see the promise of digital photography and didn’t take advantage of it. They were overtaken by rivals, and in the end, this mighty corporation went out of business.

So to ensure the survival of an entity, we must accept change, we must take risks. This seems to be true of populations, businesses – even software programs seem to illustrate this kind of evolutionary development [5].

Quantifying Risk and Appetite

In some areas of business, it’s easy to define risk appetite.  Financial corporations can easily define how much loss they are prepared to accept.  They can accept that a certain percentage of turnover or profit will be lost to fraud or error. 

A more sophisticated business might quantify the benefit of taking risks.  For example, lending more money might result in greater profits.  If a business understands the relationship between risk and opportunity, it can exploit it.

Too Big to Fail

A few years ago we saw the downside of that thinking.  Organizations thought they were too big to fail or too clever – they couldn’t go wrong.  Some high-profile failures lead to a domino effect, whereby many institutions effectively collapsed.  This was the Global Financial Crisis. 

As a result, the regulation of lenders was tightened up.  Banks and similar bodies were forced to keep higher reserves of cash and assets in order to survive miscalculations of risk.

How Much Risk is Enough?

So, how can we determine an appropriate risk appetite, without over-reaching ourselves?

This is a particularly difficult judgment when considering safety. Now we are not trading $ for $, we are trading dollars for injury and even death.  This is a much more difficult ethical problem.  There are various ways of making this judgment, for example in Australia we can refer to Safe Work Australia’s guidance. 

In this article, we will consider what leads us to a distorted perception of risk. 

Risk Perception

Some researchers claim that there are three factors that cause us to look at risk and misunderstand it.

“Psychometric research identified a broad domain of characteristics that may be condensed into three high order factors: 1) the degree to which a risk is understood, 2) the degree to which it evokes a feeling of dread, and 3) the number of people exposed to the risk. A dread risk elicits visceral feelings of terror, uncontrollable, catastrophe, inequality, and uncontrolled. An unknown risk is new and unknown to science. The more a person dreads an activity, the higher its perceived risk and the more that person wants the risk reduced.”[6]

Wikipedia

I have observed that people are ready to take more risks when they think they are in control.  For example, we’re more willing to take risks when driving, rather than in trains or planes where someone else is in control. 

It’s interesting to recall that our risk of death per journey is the same in a car as it is in a plane.  Moreover, we are three times more likely to be injured in a car crash than in an air crash.  Yet, people worry about flying, but they don’t think about the car journey to get to the airport. 

Therefore, if we are to think rationally about risk, we must address those three factors of risk perception – and control. 

Three Risk Perception Factors

First, we must understand risk.  Risk assessment helps us to do this and can help us make objective decisions.

Second, we must recognize feelings of dread, for example, fear of radiation.  We must strive to understand the mechanisms that give rise to risks so that we can understand how to treat or control them. This should give us confidence, which will counteract dread.

(Also, we might explicitly identify the benefits of the risky activity.  This should help us to deal with dread rationally.) 

Third, we must estimate the number of people exposed to the risk.  Accidents with multiple casualties cause Societal Concern and get a lot of media attention, whereas the constant background of individual casualties in car accidents goes largely unreported.

Let’s Look at Control 

We often have the illusion that we are in control, and that this will prevent accidents.

The night I had my most serious car accident, I was hit by a drug/ drunk driver.  I had not lost control of my vehicle and I had done nothing wrong.  However, when the other car turned into my path, I could not avoid the collision. 

We need to give people a realistic view of how much they really control. 

If we can give people control, without real adverse effects, then so much the better.  Either that or take away control completely and make sure that users know this.

Many fatalities have resulted from users misunderstanding how much control they had – for example over ‘self-driving’ cars.  

Outrage 

All these factors are challenging to deal with.  Moreover, there are a number of agents using social media to stoke and exploit public outrage. This is done for various purposes, which may have nothing to do with actual levels of risk (i.e. it not be a genuine societal concern).

Perhaps we can learn from those who manage outrage for enterprises that need it?  

They work to actively and regularly present a rational view of risks and benefits.  This is intended to counter the sensationalist reporting that will arise from time to time.  Think of it as a regular vaccine of rationality against periodic outbreaks of emotional outrage.   

Risk: Averse, Adverse, or Appetite? Conclusion

Of course, there are no guaranteed solutions or magic answers to these questions.

We will always have a subjective and visceral reaction to danger.  This is a good thing, essential even.  It’s a very important survival skill, and we should be afraid of things that can hurt us.

Yet, to live without risk at all is simply not possible – we will all die of something.  Will we achieve something meaningful before that dread day comes?

To do anything requires us to take risks.  As individuals, as a society, we need to take risks to enjoy the benefits that result.  “Great empires are not maintained by timidity” as a Roman historian once said[7].  

As in so many things, we are looking for a balance. 

How much risk-aversion do you need to survive, versus how much risk appetite to thrive?

(For more on risk management, see the FAQ.)

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/averse#

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adverse

[3] https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/adverse-risk

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_appetite

[5] Les Hatton & Greg Warr, Conservation of Information in Proteins, Software, Music, Texts, the Universe and Chocolate Boxes, Heiland Lecture, Colorado School of Mines, 06 Mar 2018.

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_perception

[7] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/313217-great-empires-are-not-maintained-by-timidity

Categories
Blog Work Health and Safety

Due Diligence and Safety

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

In this article, I’m looking at Due Diligence and Safety in the USA, UK, and Australia. Why? Because Due Diligence is the root of so much that we should be doing in Safety.

Let’s start with the definitions of due diligence in the way that it applies to safety (because due diligence is a concept that has many different applications in business.)

Due Diligence in the United States of America

Definition of Due Diligence

1law : the care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to other persons or their property …
Doing your due diligence: “… in this sense, it is synonymous with another legal term, ordinary care.”

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

That’s the definition from a popular US dictionary.

Workplace Safety in the USA

In the USA, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Agency, (OSHA), governs health and safety in the workplace.  As the USA is a federal state, what the OSH Act or Agency covers is complex, as follows:

  • The Agency covers most private sector employers in all 50 US states, either directly through the federal agency or through an OSHA-approved state plan – 22 states have such a plan;
  • Workers at state and local government agencies are not covered by the Agency, but have OSH Act protections if they work in those states that have an OSHA-approved state program;
  • The Agency protects workers of all federal agencies;
  • The Act does not cover the self-employed, immediate family members of farm employers; and
  • The Act does not cover workplace hazards regulated by another federal agency (for example, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Energy, or Coast Guard).[2]  

Are you confused?  I am!

Product Safety in the USA

To add to my confusion the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSA) regulates the safety of some consumer products. It does so under thirteen different federal laws.  These acts regulate, for example, child safety, flammable fabrics, art supplies, poisons, and refrigerators[3].  I can’t see any coherent pattern to what the CPSA regulates.

However, the US Federal Government tends not to manage product safety.  It is more often addressed via state legislation, which varies from state to state.  

Product safety is also dealt with through civil liability: victims sue you if your product hurts someone.  In other words “Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause.”[4]

There are different theories of liability, one of them being ‘strict liability.  “In criminal and civil law, strict liability is a standard of liability under which a person is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from an activity even in the absence of fault or criminal intent on the part of the defendant.”[5] 

Back to Due Diligence

Now we circle back to due diligence: “due diligence is the only available defense to a crime that is one of strict liability … Once the criminal offence is proven, the defendant must prove on balance that they did everything possible to prevent the act from happening.”[6]

(I also note from that Wikipedia article that “It is not enough that they took the normal standard of care in their industry – they must show that they took every reasonable precaution.”  We now seem to be heading towards our old friend ‘reasonably practicable’ – but that’s another article!)

There is a big difference in the way that the USA manages workplace and product health and safety.  Due Diligence may be a useful concept in all these settings. However, I’m finding it very difficult to say what it means when applied to safety.

Due Diligence Around the World

It was also challenging to pin down due diligence and safety in the United Kingdom (and still is).

In 2007, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (the national regulator, much like OSHA in the USA) published a useful study into Due Diligence[7].  This report looked at “whether the law in nine different countries imposes health and safety duties upon boardroom directors (and other senior managers)”.

Due Diligence in Nine Different Countries

It concluded that “seven out of nine countries contain safety legislation that imposes positive safety obligations upon either directors or senior managers of companies. These are: Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Canada (four out of fourteen jurisdictions) and Australia (two out of nine jurisdictions).”

Thus, the criminal law in these countries imposes safety obligations on directors or senior managers.  

Interestingly, the Report found that exercising “due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence” was often found to be a viable defense for company directors and senior managers in many jurisdictions.

Due Diligence in the United Kingdom

The report observed that, in 2007, “It is fair to say that the legislative framework for regulating occupational health and safety (OHS) in Great Britain appears unusual in not imposing positive duties on directors. The majority of the nine countries studied do have this kind of legislation.” 

The UK brought the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act into force in 2007 – the same year as this Report.  The UK introduced this because of several failures to prosecute company directors after high-profile fatal accidents.  Before 2007, courts had to find individuals guilty of gross negligence manslaughter to hold them accountable. Such prosecutions often failed.

Whether the Due Diligence Report had any influence on the 2007 Act is hard to say. This Report is still the best result on the UK HSE’s website for ‘due diligence’ so not much seems to have changed.

Safety Law in Australia

Now Australia has an interesting mix of approaches derived from those in the USA and UK.

Australia is a Federation

Australia, like the USA, is a federal state.  Responsibility for health and safety generally resides with the states and territories.  The federal government only controls health and safety in federal workplaces or on federal land.  In Australia, we have a similar jurisdictional model to the USA, with all the complexity that can introduce.

US practices also influence Australian industry and commerce.  Safety requirements are often met by meeting specifications. (Whereas the UK uses a ‘safety by intent’ approach – another article I must write).  Thus, Australian safety practice often relies on certification against standards, as in the US. 

Australian Work Health and Safety Law

In Australia, we have adopted our own version of the UK Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974.  The Australian government introduced a much-refined version of UK law in 2011, some 37 years after the UK Act.

To achieve standardization across Australia, the Federal Government agreed with state and territory governments to introduce a model-based approach.

Safe Work Australia developed the Model WHS Act, Regulations, and Codes of Practice, collaboratively. Then the states and territories all agreed to adopt these centrally-developed articles of legislation.

States and territories were free to modify the Models as they saw fit. In general, the different jurisdictions have changed little, although Victoria has chosen not to implement WHS at all (thanks, Victoria, for being team players).

Unlike in the USA, Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation covers both workplaces and non-consumer goods. (Consumer goods are covered by other laws.)

This criminal law sets standards that manufacturers, designers, importers, and users must achieve when engineering, installing, commissioning equipment, and running it within a workplace.

Safety Due Diligence in Australia

In Australia, we are fortunate that the Work Health and Safety Act introduces a very specific and practical definition of what Due diligence is when applied to safety duties.

The Act says that Officers (company directors and senior managers) have additional duties.  Officers must exercise ‘due diligence. Under Division 4—Duty of officers, workers and other persons, Section 27  Duty of officers:

             (1)  If a person conducting a business or undertaking has a duty or obligation under this Act, an officer of the person conducting the business or undertaking must exercise due diligence to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking complies with that duty or obligation. 

Australian WHS Act, 2011

We’re now talking about what is due diligence in the context of health and safety. I need to be precise about that. The term ‘due diligence’ appears in other Australian laws and can have different meanings. In this post, the definition of due diligence applies to WHS duties only.

We’ve got to do six things, in sub-paragraphs (a) to (f), to demonstrate due diligence. 

What does Due Diligence Mean (a & b)?

(5)  In this section, due diligence includes taking reasonable steps:

                     (a)  to acquire and keep up‑to‑date knowledge of work health and safety matters; and

                     (b)  to gain an understanding of the nature of the operations of the business or undertaking of the person conducting the business or undertaking and generally of the hazards and risks associated with those operations; and

Section 27

Officers must acquire and keep up to date with knowledge of work health and safety matters obligations and so forth.

Secondly, officers must gain an understanding of the nature of their business’s operations and the risks they control.  If you’re a company director you need to know what the operation does.

You cannot hide behind “I didn’t know” because it’s a legal requirement for you to do so.  There’s no pleading ignorance because ignorance is, in fact, illegal and you’ve got to have a general understanding of the hazards and risks associated with those operations.  

We don’t necessarily have to be up on all the specifics of everything going on in your organization, but you should know what your organization does. However, we should be aware of the general costs and risks associated with that kind of business.

What does Due Diligence Mean (c, d, e & f)?

                     (c)  to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking has available for use, and uses, appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking; and

Section 27

Now, thirdly, we are moving on. Basically, sub-paragraphs C, D, E, and F refer to appropriate resources and processes.  Officers have got to ensure that PCBUs have available and use appropriate resources and processes in order to control risks.  That says you’ve got to provide those resources and processes and there is supervision.

Maybe you put in a Safety Management System that ensures people actually do use the stuff they should, to keep themselves safe.  And that’s very relevant because often people don’t like wearing, for example, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) because it’s uncomfortable or slows you down, so the temptation is to take it off.

What does Due Diligence Mean (d)?

                     (d)  to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking has appropriate processes for receiving and considering information regarding incidents, hazards and risks and responding in a timely way to that information; and

Section 27

Moving on to part D, we’re still on the appropriate processes. We must have appropriate processes for receiving and considering information on incidents, hazards, and risks.  Again, we’ve got to keep up to date. What’s going on in our own plants and maybe similar plants in the industry? We need a process to respond in a timely way to that information.

If we discover that there is a new incident or hazard that you didn’t previously know about. We need to respond and react to that quickly enough to make a difference to the health and safety of workers.  That works together with sub-paragraph B, doesn’t it?  In parts A and B we need to keep up to date on the risks and what’s going on in the business. Also, in part A, we need to ensure that the PCBU has processes for compliance with any duty or obligation and follows them again to provide that stuff.

In the system safety world, often the designers will need to provide the raw material that becomes those processes. Or maybe if we’re selling a product, it comes with an instruction manual of all the processes needed.

What does Due Diligence Mean (e-f)?

                     (e)  to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking has, and implements, processes for complying with any duty or obligation of the person conducting the business or undertaking under this Act; and

                      (f)  to verify the provision and use of the resources and processes referred to in paragraphs (c) to (e).

Examples:  For the purposes of paragraph (e), the duties or obligations under this Act of a person conducting a business or undertaking may include:

(a)    reporting notifiable incidents;

(b)    consulting with workers;

(c)    ensuring compliance with notices issued under this Act;

(d)    ensuring the provision of training and instruction to workers about work health and safety;

(e)    ensuring that health and safety representatives receive their entitlements to training.

Section 27

Finally, the officers must verify the provision and use of these resources and processes (in Parts C, D, and E).  Thus, we’ve got a simple six-point program that comprises due diligence, but it’s quite demanding. There’s no shirking this stuff or pretending you didn’t know.  I suspect it’s designed to hang Company directors who neglect and harm their workers.

What Due Diligence is All About

Let’s face it, this is all good common-sense stuff. We should be doing this anyway.

These requirements are only the minimum required for all businesses and undertakings in Australia. In any kind of high-risk industry, we should have a Safety Management System that does all of this and more.

Conclusion

Well, we’ve looked at due diligence as it applies to safety in many different countries.  We’ve concentrated on the USA, the UK, and Australia. But Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Canada got an honorable mention as well.

The combinations of due diligence with criminal law, civil law, and safety are very confusing in the USA. It is largely non-existent in the UK. 

Only Australia has spelled out in law what due diligence means for safety.  You may not work in Australia, but I suggest that the clarity and practicality of the WHS Act definition on ‘due diligence’ are useful for safety practitioners everywhere.  

What does Due Diligence mean for Safety Practices where You are?

[1] Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration

[3] https://www.cpsc.gov/Regulations-Laws–Standards/Statutes

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_liability#Strict_liability

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strict_liability

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Due_diligence

[7] https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr535.pdf

Categories
Mil-Std-882E System Safety

Learn How to Perform System Safety Analysis

Crystal Ball
The Safety Artisan - anticipating risk

In this ‘super post’, we will Learn How to Perform System Safety Analysis. I will show you thirteen lessons that explain each of the ten analysis tasks, the analysis process, and how to combine those tasks into a program!

Follow the links to sample and buy lessons on individual tasks.

Introduction

Military Standard 882, or Mil-Std-882 for short, is one of the most widely used system-safety standards. As the name implies, this standard is used on US military systems, but it has found its way, sometimes in disguise, into many other programs around the world. It’s been around for a long time and is now in its fifth incarnation: 882E.

Unfortunately, 882 has also been widely misunderstood and misapplied. This is probably not the fault of the standard and is just another facet of its popularity. The truth is that any standard can be applied blindly – no standard is a substitute for competent decision-making.

In this series of posts, we will: provide awareness of this standard; explain how to use it; and discuss how to manage, tailor, and implement it. Links to each training session and to each section of the standard are provided in the following sections.

Mil-Std-882E Training Sessions

System Safety Process, full post here

Photo by Bonneval Sebastien on Unsplash

In this full-length (50 minutes) video, you will learn to:

  • Know the system safety process according to Mil-Std-882E;
  • List and order the eight elements;
  • Understand how they are applied;
  • Skilfully apply system safety using realistic processes; and
  • Feel more confident dealing with multiple standards.

In System Safety Process, we look a the general requirements of Mil-Std-882E. We cover the Applicability of the 882E tasks; the General requirements; the Process with eight elements; and the application of process theory to the real world.

Design Your System Safety Analysis Program

Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels

Learn how to Design a System Safety Program for any system in any application.

Learning Objectives. At the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Define what a risk analysis program is;
  • List the hazard analysis tasks that make up a program;
  • Select tasks to meet your needs; and
  • Design a tailored risk analysis program for any application.

Analysis: 200-series Tasks

Preliminary Hazard Identification, Task 201

Identify Hazards.

In this video, we find out how to create a Preliminary Hazard List, the first step in safety assessment. We look at three classic complementary techniques to identify hazards and their pros and cons. This includes all the content from Task 201, and also practical insights from my 25 years of experience with Mil-Std-882.

You can buy the full video, plus lots of bonus material, here.

Preliminary Hazard Analysis, Task 202

See More Clearly.

In this 45-minute session, The Safety Artisan looks at Preliminary Hazard Analysis, or PHA, which is Task 202 in Mil-Std-882E. We explore Task 202’s aim, description, scope, and contracting requirements. We also provide value-adding commentary and explain the issues with PHA – how to do it well and avoid the pitfalls.

System Requirements Hazard Analysis, Task 203

Law, Regulations, Codes of Practice, Guidance, Standards & Recognised Good Practice.

In this 45-minute session, The Safety Artisan looks at Safety Requirements Hazard Analysis, or SRHA, which is Task 203 in the Mil-Std-882E standard. We explore Task 203’s aim, description, scope, and contracting requirements. SRHA is an important and complex task, which needs to be done on several levels to be successful. This video explains the issues and discusses how to perform SRHA well.

Sub-system Hazard Analysis, Task 204

Breaking it down to the constituent parts.

In this video lesson, The Safety Artisan looks at Sub-System Hazard Analysis, or SSHA, which is Task 204 in Mil-Std-882E. We explore Task 204’s aim, description, scope, and contracting requirements. We also provide value-adding commentary and explain the issues with SSHA – how to do it well and avoid the pitfalls.

System Hazard Analysis, Task 205

Putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

In this 45-minute session, The Safety Artisan looks at System Hazard Analysis, or SHA, which is Task 205 in Mil-Std-882E. We explore Task 205’s aim, description, scope, and contracting requirements. We also provide value-adding commentary, which explains SHA – how to use it to complement Sub-System Hazard Analysis (SSHA, Task 204) to get the maximum benefits for your System Safety Program.

Operating and Support Hazard Analysis, Task 206

Operate it, maintain it, supply it, dispose of it.

In this full-length session, The Safety Artisan looks at Operating & Support Hazard Analysis, or O&SHA, which is Task 206 in Mil-Std-882E. We explore Task 205’s aim, description, scope, and contracting requirements. We also provide value-adding commentary, which explains O&SHA: how to use it with other tasks; how to apply it effectively on different products; and some of the pitfalls to avoid. We refer to other lessons for specific tools and techniques, such as Human Factors analysis methods.

Health Hazard Analysis, Task 207

Hazards to human health are many and various.

In this full-length (55-minute) session, The Safety Artisan looks at Health Hazard Analysis, or HHA, which is Task 207 in Mil-Std-882E. We explore the aim, description, and contracting requirements of this complex Task, which covers: physical, chemical & biological hazards; Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT); ergonomics, aka Human Factors; the Operational Environment; and non/ionizing radiation. We outline how to implement Task 207 in compliance with Australian WHS. 

Functional Hazard Analysis, Task 208

Components where systemic failure dominates random failure.

In this full-length (40-minute) session, The Safety Artisan looks at Functional Hazard Analysis, or FHA, which is Task 208 in Mil-Std-882E. FHA analyses software, complex electronic hardware, and human interactions. We explore the aim, description, and contracting requirements of this Task, and provide extensive commentary on it. 

System-Of-Systems Hazard Analysis, Task 209

Existing systems are often combined to create a new capability.

In this full-length (38-minute) session, The Safety Artisan looks at Systems-of-Systems Hazard Analysis, or SoSHA, which is Task 209 in Mil-Std-882E. SoSHA analyses collections of systems, which are often put together to create a new capability, which is enabled by human brokering between the different systems. We explore the aim, description, and contracting requirements of this Task, and an extended example to illustrate SoSHA. (We refer to other lessons for special techniques for Human Factors analysis.)

Environmental Hazard Analysis, Task 210

Environmental requirements in the USA, UK, and Australia.

This is the full, one-hour session on Environmental Hazard Analysis (EHA), which is Task 210 in Mil-Std-882E. We explore the aim, task description, and contracting requirements of this Task, but this is only half the video. We then look at environmental requirements in the USA, UK, and Australia, before examining how to apply EHA in detail under the Australian/international regime. This uses my practical experience of applying EHA. 

Categories
Mil-Std-882E Safety Analysis

System Safety Engineering Process

Photo by Bonneval Sebastien on Unsplash

The System Safety Engineering Process – what it is and how to do it.

This is the full-length (50-minute) session on the System Safety Process, which is called up in the general requirements of Mil-Std-882E. I cover the Applicability of Mil-Std-882E tasks, the General Requirements, the Process with eight elements, and the Application of process theory to the real world. 

You Will Learn to:

  • Know the system safety process iaw Mil-Std-882E;
  • List and order the eight elements;
  • Understand how they are applied;
  • Skilfully apply system safety using realistic processes; and
  • Feel more confident dealing with this and other standards.
System Safety Process – this is the free demo.
buy the full-length video

Topics: System Safety Engineering Process

  • Applicability of Mil-Std-882E tasks;
  • General requirements;
  • Process with eight elements; and
  • Application of process theory to the real world

Transcript: Preliminary Hazard Identification

CLICK HERE for the Transcript

System Safety Process

Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Safety Artisan. I’m Simon, your host. Today I’m going to be using my experience with System Safety Engineering to talk you through the process that we need to follow to achieve success. Because to use a corny saying, ‘Safety doesn’t happen by accident’. Safety is what we call an emergent property. And to get it, we need to decide what we mean by safety, decide what our goals are, and then work out how we’re going to get there. It’s a planned systematic activity. Especially if we’re going to deal with very complex projects or situations. Times where there is a requirement to make that understanding and that planning explicit. Where the requirement becomes the difference between success and failure. Anyway, that’s enough of that. Let’s get on and look at the session.

Military Standard 882E, Section 4 General Requirements

Today we’re talking about System Safety Process. To help us do that, we’re going to be looking at a particular standard – the general requirements of that standard. And those are from Section Four of Military Standard 882E. But don’t get hung up on which standard it is. That’s not the point here. It’s a means to an end. I’ll talk about other standards and how we perform system safety engineering in different domains.

Learning Objectives

Our learning objectives for today are here. In this session, you will learn, or you’ll know, the system safety process in accordance with that Mil. Standard. You will be able to list and order the eight elements of the process. You will understand how to apply the eight elements. And you will be able to apply system safety with some skill using realistic processes. We’re going to spend quite a bit of time talking about how it’s actually done vs. how it appears on a sheet of paper. Also known as how it appears written in a standard. So, we’re going to talk about doing it in the real world. At the end of all that, you will be able to feel more confident dealing with multiple different standards.

The focus is not on this military standard, but on understanding the process. The fundamentals of what we’re trying to achieve and why. Then you will be able to extrapolate those principles to other standards. And that should help you to understand whatever it is you’re dealing with. It doesn’t have to be Mil. Standard 882E.

Contents of this Session

We’ve got four sets of contents in the session. First of all, I’m going to talk about the applicability of Military Standard 882E. From the standard itself and the tasks (you’ll see why that’s important) to understanding what you’re supposed to do. Then other standards later on. I’m going to talk about those general requirements that the standard places on us to do the work. A big part of that is looking at a process following the eight elements. And finally, we will apply that theory of how the process should work to the real world. And that will include learning some real-world lessons. You should find these useful for all standards and all circumstances.

So, it just remains for me to say thank you very much for listening. You can find a free pdf of the System Safety Engineering Standard, Mil-Std-882E, here.

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Behind the Scenes Blog

Testimonials

Testimonials from 20+ years in the industry. Hear what some clients and ex-colleagues have to say about The Safety Artisan.

General Testimonials

The way you teach this subject makes it comprehensible and part of an integral whole. It seems like your approach is rare (and valuable) in the world of System Safety.

Thomas Anthony
Director, Aviation Safety and Security Program
Viterbi School of Engineering
University of Southern California

“Hi Simon, I would just like to say that the content you have been putting out recently is absolutely amazing and I enjoy reading and listening through it.”

James Moodie

“Simon, Love the even-handed approach you’ve adopted and also the tongue-in-cheek comments.” 

Paul Bird, Former Manager Safety Engineering, BAES Australia

“Explanation about the military standard was very interesting, because for the first time somebody talked about possible disadvantages.”

Henri Van Buren, reviewing “System Safety Risk Analysis Programs”

“Valuable information, Clear explanations, Engaging delivery, Helpful practice activities, Accurate course description, Knowledgeable instructor.”

Manuel Louie B. Santos, reviewing “Risk Management 101”

“Understanding safety law can be difficult and, at times, confronting.  Thankfully, Simon has a knack of bringing clarity to complex legal requirements, using real work examples to help understanding.  I highly recommend Simon to any director or manager wanting to understand their legal obligations and ensure a safe workplace.”

Jonathan Carroll, Senior Leadership, Pacific National

“Simon, You are and always will be the master at explaining the way Safety management works in real life. It is great to see your broad and vast experience being available through this medium and The Safety Artisan website. I will definitely be dropping in to seek your trusted guidance.”

Kevin Payne, Systems Safety Consultant at QinetiQ

Testimonials from Udemy Courses

Principles of Software Safety Standards (scores 4.42 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 97% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 95% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 86% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 94% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 97% said YES!

Get your discount here (please use this link, otherwise Udemy take 67% of the price).

How to Design a System Safety Program (scores 4.29 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 100% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 100% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 100% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 75% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 100% said YES!

Get your discount here (please use this link, otherwise Udemy take 67% of the price).

How to Prepare for the CISSP Exam (scores 4.61 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 100% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 100% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 100% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 100% said YES!

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Risk Management 101 (scores 4.48 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 100% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 100% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 94% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 97% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 100% said YES!

Get it for FREE here.

Back to Home Page.

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Behind the Scenes

How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #3

This is ‘How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #3’.

Last time #2, I posted about the two major focus areas for The Safety Artisan’s teaching. These are System Safety and Australian Work Health and Safety or WHS.

In my first post, I talked about the fundamental lessons under the start here topic. Even if you are experienced in safety, you may find that things are done very differently in another industry or country – I did. 

Now for Something Completely Different

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Safety Artisan. I’m your host, Simon. In this post, I want to talk about how you can connect with me, The Safety Artisan, and get more out of the website.

There are three ways you can do this.

Get Free and Low-cost Courses on Udemy

I have lots of free and paid and low-cost courses on Udemy. In these, I provide video lessons and lots of supporting content, for example, my PHIA Guide.

Front cover of PHIA Guide
Subscribe to The Safety Artisan Mailing List and get your Free Gift!

Follow on YouTube or Social Media

Second, you can follow the safety Artisan on YouTube or on social media. If you sign up on my YouTube Channel and tick for notifications, you will be reminded every time I issue a new video lesson.

I’m also on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google My Business, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Vkontakte. Phew! 

On LinkedIn, you can see my full resume/CV and find my most popular articles.

Just Get in Touch

Third, you can directly get in touch with me by commenting on a post – ask a question! There is no such thing as a ‘dumb’ question, only dumb accidents.

You can also ask general questions by filling in the form on the Connect Page. (This is better than sending me a Direct Message on social media, as I get a lot of spam.)

There are a lot of different topics that I could cover. It is surprisingly difficult to find out what people really like to hear about. So, if there’s something that you want to learn about then just ask. I will bump the topic up on my ‘to do’ list.

That’s All, folks!

Well, that’s it from me, I hope you enjoy The Safety Artisan website and get as much as you can out of it. See you soon!

How to Get the Most from #3: What subjects do you want?

Leave a comment.

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Behind the Scenes

How to Get the Most fromThe Safety Artisan #2

Crystal Ball
The Safety Artisan - anticipating risk

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Safety Artisan. I’m Simon, your host. This is ‘How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #2’.

In my previous post (#1) I talk about the Start Here topic page. There you will find lessons that deal with fundamental issues – most of them are free.

This time I’m talking about two other topic areas, which are the main focus of The Safety Artisan – so far. 

System Safety

The first topic is system safety. I spend a lot of time talking about system safety because it’s used in so many different industries. You can apply its principles to just about anything.

And because it takes a systematic approach to safety you can scale it up or down. It is used on the biggest, multinational, multi-billion dollar projects you can imagine. You can also tailor it so that it can be used sensibly on much smaller projects. You can get good results for a lot less money and time.

So I present a whole suite of sessions on system safety, in particular how to do system safety analysis according to a US Military Standard 882E. Whether you’re working on US military systems or not doesn’t matter. The principles, practices, and procedures in the standard will equip you to tackle almost any standard.

But you’ve got to understand your standard, and what it was designed to achieve. Then you can make it work for you.

Australian Work Health and Safety

The second topic that I cover in detail is Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS). I’ve done a series on WHS because I find that is often misunderstood.

Unusually for health and safety legislation, WHS covers not just workplace health and safety, but the duties of designers, manufacturers, importers, installers, and users of plant, substances, and structures. In fact, anyone who is involved through its lifecycle.

Coming to Australia?

WHS also contains and concepts like ‘So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable or SFAIRP/SFARP. These are often misunderstood and misapplied. This is a shame because the public guidance that is out there is excellent.

For example, I introduce Codes of Practice, especially the ones that tell you how to manage risk and Consult, Cooperate, and Coordinate on WHS matters. From my personal experience, I explain how to use this guidance and how to get results.

Even if you don’t work in Australia, you’ll find that many principles used in WHS law are found in other western nations. For example, I compared safety laws in the UK and Australia, based on my experience of working in both countries.

How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #3: Coming Soon…

Next time, I talk about how you can connect and interact with The Safety Artisan to get better learning results for you!

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Behind the Scenes

How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #1

Photo by Teona Swift from Pexels

In this post, ‘How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #1’ I will show you some of the free resources you can access…

Welcome

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Safety Artisan, my name is Simon and I’m a professional system safety engineer with more than 25 years of experience in various industries.

Simon Di Nucci, FIE(Aust), MSc, CPEng NER

In the next three posts, I’m going to tell you how to get the most from The Safety Artisan website. I’m going to start with the basics. 

Start Here

As the name suggests, start here is a good place for newcomers to start looking at blog posts and lesson videos. Most of them are Free!

Now, before you skip this bit because you’ve done some work in safety before, let me share two things with you.

Concepts

I have worked on many projects where we didn’t have a clear and unambiguous idea of what ‘safe’ means. I’m not joking!

That’s right, we were spending lots of money trying to make something safe, but we didn’t really know what that meant. Surprisingly, the bigger and more expensive the project, the more difficult it is to get a clear picture of the basics. This might sound daft but on a big project, you have to work hard to stay focused on the fundamental principles of what you’re trying to achieve.

If from the very beginning, you can understand clearly what safe means in your particular domain is, and how are you are going to manage risk, then you can arrive at a successful end game. But it’s not easy.

Second, Differences Across Countries and Industries

Another point to note is that many industries do things differently. You may have worked in rail, or in a chemical plant, or with ships, submarines, or planes and you know how safety works in your industry. But it’s still good to learn from others – and their mistakes.

‘Learn from others’ Mistakes’ said Bismark.

I have worked in all of these industries – and more – and I can tell you that the way things are done in different domains varies greatly. So when you’re going for an interview, or when you’re starting a new job, you might get some surprises…

The law on safety (and environmental protection) also varies from country to country. I’ve worked on projects in the UK, Australia, Europe, and the USA, and there are significant differences in practice. In particular, I emigrated from the UK to Australia, and I’ve compared practices in the two countries.

Coming Next…

Next week I will tell you about the more advanced topics that I cover. In the Third Post, I will talk about how you can connect with The Safety Artisan and get the online learning that YOU want.

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System Safety

FAQ on System Safety

In this FAQ on System Safety, I share some lessons that will explain the basics right through to more advanced topics!

The system safety concept calls for a risk management strategy based on identification, analysis of hazards and application of remedial controls using a systems-based approach.

Harold E. Roland; Brian Moriarty (1990). System Safety Engineering and Management.

In ‘Safety Concepts Part 1’, we look at the meaning of the term “safe”. This fundamental topic provides the foundation for all other safety topics, and it’s simple!

In this 45-minute free video, I discuss System Safety Principles, as set out by the US Federal Aviation Authority in their System Safety Handbook. 

In System Safety Programs, we learn how to Design a System Safety Program for any system in any application.

The Common System Safety Questions

To see them click here:

is system safety, system safety is, what’s system safety, what is system safety management, what is system safety assessment, what is a system safety program plan, what is safety system of work, [what is safe system of work], what’s system safety, which active safety system, why system safety, system safety faa, system safety management, system safety management plan, system safety mil std, system safety methodology, system safety mil-std-882d, system safety mil-std-882e, system safety program plan, system safety process, system safety ppt system safety principles, system safety perspective, system safety precedence, system safety analysis, system safety analysis handbook, system safety analysis techniques, system safety courses, system safety assessment.

System safety is a specialty within system engineering that supports program risk management. … 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.

FAA System Safety Handbook, Chapter 3: Principles of System Safety
December 30, 2000

If you don’t find what you want in this FAQ on Risk Management, there are plenty more lessons under Start Here and System Safety Analysis topics. Or just enter ‘system safety’ into the search function at the bottom of any page.

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Blog Safety Management

FAQ on Risk Management

In this FAQ on Risk Management, I will point you to some lessons where you will get some answers to basic questions.

Lessons on this Topic

Welcome to Risk Management 101, where we’re going to go through these basic concepts of risk management. We’re going to break it down into the constituent parts and then we’re going to build it up again and show you how it’s done.

So what is this risk analysis stuff all about? What is ‘risk’? How do you define or describe it? How do you measure it? In Risk Basics I explain the basic terms.

Risk Analysis Programs – Design a program for any system in any application. You’ll be able to:

  • Describe fundamental risk concepts;
  • Define what a risk analysis program is;
  • and much more…

If you don’t find what you want in this FAQ on Risk Management, there are plenty more lessons under Start Here and System Safety Analysis topics. Or just enter ‘risk’ into the search function at the bottom of any page.

The Common Risk Management Questions

Click here to see the most Commonly-asked Questions

why risk management, why risk management is important, why risk management is important in project management, why risk management plan is important, why risk management is important for business, why risk management matters, are risk management, are risk management services, is risk management important, is risk management framework, is risk management effective, can risk management be outsourced, can risk management increase risk, can risk management create value, how can risk management help companies, how can risk management be improved, how can risk management improve performance, how risk management improve organization performance, how risk management works, how risk management help you, how risk management helps, how risk management plans can be monitored, how risk management help us, how risk management add value to a firm, how risk management developed, what risk management do, what risk management means, what risk management is, what risk management is not, where risk management, which risk management certification is best, which risk management principle is best demonstrated, which risk management technique is considered the best, which risk management handling technique is an action, which risk management techniques, who risk management guidelines, who risk management, who risk management framework, who risk management tool, who risk management plan, who risk management strategies, will risk management be automated, how will risk management help you, how will this risk management plan be monitored, risk management will reduce, risk management will