Primary system safety tasks

The job safety analysis (JSA) [also referred to as the job hazard analysis (JHA)], which is a more simplified form of task analysis, has been a longstanding tool for task and function analysis. JSA has been available and utilized in general industry for many years by the industrial safety community. However, many practitioners do not understand or are simply unfamiliar with the connection between the JSA and the system safety tasks of hazard identification and analysis. It has even been suggested by some in the profession that the JSA itself is a type of oversimplified system safety analysis and, if performed earlier in the job development phase, could be used as the basis of a preliminary hazard analysis for a specific task or set of tasks. However, because JSA is often (if improperly) used to analyze a function only after it has been implemented, much of the data is not factored into the system safety process. The primary purpose of the JSA is to uncover inherent or potential hazards that may be encountered in the work environment. This basic definition is not unlike that previously discussed regarding the various system safety analyses. The primary difference between the two is subtle but important and is found in the end-use purpose of the JSA. Once the job or task is completed, the JSA is usually used as an effective tool for training and orienting the new employee into the work environment. The JSA presents a verbal picture of a specific job. 

The safety community provides expertise in hazard identification, analysis, and control techniques. TTie safety representative may serve as the primary advisor to the chairperson in articulating system safety goals, tasks, and responsibilities. The safety representative frequently has the job of writing or drafting documents generated by the SSWG. 

Who prepares the system safety program plan (SSPP) Who performs the primary tasks outlined in the plan Who provides the system safety guidance and policy to develop an SSPP ... 

Periodic, scheduled facility safety inspections are essential in any operational area, especially where hazardous tasks are performed on a regular basis. Compliance with safety inspection requirements should not be difficult to accomplish since similar requirements should already exist in an established occupational safety program. The facility inspection encompasses all facets of daily operation and considers the human-machine interface a primary candidate area for potential mishaps. Frequent facility inspections are an excellent method of maintaining current awareness of facility conditions and how those conditions affect, or might affect, the safe operation of that facility. A system should be in place to ensure implementation of corrective actions and to track repetitive items. Results of inspections should be properly documented and accountability for discrepant items appropriately determined and assigned in order for the inspection process to be effective. If properly performed, the facility safety inspection is an excellent tool in the overall success of the system safety function. 

It cannot be overemphasized that the principal elements of a sound industrial safety program, with its primary purpose of OSHA compliance, work hazard reduction, assurance of employee/job safety and health, and the evaluation of jobs or tasks (through the ISA or another comparable method), can, in most cases, be achieved through application of the system safety process. The connection between the two programs, while not entirely obvious, is quite understandable, as described above. Perhaps the most important thing to remember here is that the industrial or occupational safety and health professional can utilize the time-proven techniques of hazard reduction and system safety analysis to accomplish the desired goal of both programs ... 

Of course, in mai indnstries, like aerial agriculture, commercial pressures and maiket realities make the task difficnlt. The economics of success can be a difficult balance in cash strapped operations. However, diligent application of system safety principles is even more important when there is pressure on the business, when operations are most vulnerable. It seems that this is particularly tme of aerial agriculture when the vagaries of seasonal work, the ups and downs of primary industry and the continual economic pressure are considered. 

There are many different aspects to system safety that must be considered when conducting a system safety program (SSP). The primary tasks of a SSP are to identify hazards and mitigate them to an acceptable level of risk. However, there are many secondary SSP tasks that must be performed, such as supporting the special safety requirements in the specialized areas of safety (e.g., laser safety, explosives safety, fire safety, battery safety).The system safety engineer is truly a systems engineer, and a jack-of-all-trades, who must be familiar with all aspects of the system involved, as well as all aspects of safety applicable to the system. 

Effective active safety systems usually require a well-coordinated interaction of all elements of the control loop. The primary driving task can be supported at any level of the following three-level hierarchy [1] ... 

Because the results of a particular criticality safety calculation are unlikely to be experimentally verifiable, it is important to have a formal validation of the computer methods—a term that formally includes the computer code itself and the data used by the code. The basic approach to this task is to compare the computational tool against as many experimental results that are "similar" to the system being analyzed as is possible again, the validation effort is consistent with our overall goal of the computation to assure ourselves that conditions predicted to be subcritical by the method would be actually expected to be subcritical in reality. There are two primary results of the validation process ... 

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