Air Force System Safety Handbook - System Safety Society

4.1 System Safety Program Objectives
and Requirements.
Employing good management and engineering principles is
the heart of the system safety function. It is the system safety
program that integrates all these efforts and ensures a
minimum risk weapon system consistent with other program
constraints. A system safety program consists of a system
safety plan, various specific management tasks, several
time-phased analyses, and periodic reviews and evaluations.
Chapter 5 will discuss the system safety plan in detail.
Chapter 6 outlines other management tasks. Chapter 7
reviews various analyses. Chapter 8 discusses the several
assessment and verification tasks.
In this chapter, the system safety program will be discussed in
general. Chapter 1 explained the need for system safety, and
Chapter 2, DOD and Air Force policy and participants in
system safety efforts. These efforts are the systematic,
well-defined process called a system safety program. It is
fundamentally a management process employing certain
engineering tasks.
The principal objective of a system safety program within the
DOD is to make sure safety, consistent with mission requirements,
is designed into systems, subsystems, equipment,
facilities, and their interfaces and operation. The degree of
safety achieved in a system depends directly on management
emphasis. Government agencies and contractors must apply
management emphasis to safety during the system acquisition
process and throughout the life cycle of each system, making
sure mishap risk is understood and risk reduction is always
considered in the management review process.
A formal safety program that stresses early hazard identification
and elimination or reduction of associated risk to a
level acceptable to the managing activity is the principal contribution
of effective system safety. The success of the system
safety effort depends on definitive statements of safety objectives
and requirements.
Specific system safety program objectives are outlined in
paragraph 1.2.
Specific time-phased requirements will be discussed in
Chapter 10. General system safety program requirements are:
(30:3)
a. Eliminate identified hazards or reduce associated
risk through design, including material selection or
substitution.
b. Isolate hazardous substances, components, and
operations from other activities, areas, personnel,
and incompatible materials.
c. Locate equipment so that access during operations,
servicing, maintenance, repair, or adjustment
minimizes personnel exposure to hazards.
d. Minimize risk resulting from excessive
environmental conditions (e.g., temperature,
pressure, noise, toxicity, acceleration, and
vibration).
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SYSTEM SAFETY PROGRAM
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e. Design to minimize risk created by human error in
the operation and support of the system.
f. Consider alternate approaches to minimize risk from
hazards that cannot be eliminated. Such
approaches include interlocks, redundancy, fail-safe
design, fire suppression, and protective clothing,
equipment, devices, and procedures.
g. Protect power sources, controls, and critical
components of redundant subsystems by separation
or shielding.
h. When alternate design approaches cannot eliminate
the hazard, provide warning and caution notes in
assembly, operations, maintenance, and repair
instructions, and distinctive markings on hazardous
components and materials, equipment, and facilities
to ensure personnel and equipment protection.
These shall be standardized in accordance with MA
requirements.
i. Minimize the severity of personnel injury or damage
to equipment in the event of a mishap.
j. Design software-controlled or monitored functions to
minimize initiation of hazardous events or mishaps.
k. Review design criteria for inadequate or overly
restrictive requirements regarding safety.
Recommend new design criteria supported by
study, analyses, or test data.
Management Responsibilities. System safety management
(especially in the program office), in order to meet the
objectives and requirements of system safety, must:
(29:A1-A2)
a. Plan, organize, and implement an effective system
safety program that is integrated into all life cycle
phases.
b. Establish definitive system safety program
requirements for the procurement or development of
a system. The requirements must be set forth
clearly in the appropriate system specifications and
contractual documents.
c. Ensure that a system safety program plan (SSPP) is
prepared that reflects in detail how the total program
is to be conducted.
d. Review and approve for implementation the SSPPs
prepared by the contractor.
e. Supply historical safety data as available.
f. Monitor contractors’ system safety activities and
review and approve deliverable data, if applicable,
to ensure adequate performance and compliance
with system safety requirements.