System safety concept audits

Reliability, Maintainability, and Quality Control. Inclusion of these organizations in the system safety process, from concept through disposal, will aid in the identification of safety-critical components for reliability analysis. A failure mode(s) and effect(s) analysis (FMEA), as well as other common reliability models, can be used to identify critical and noncritical failure points. The quality assurance element can be extremely usefid in the overall system safety process. Quality engineers should participate in the inspection of safety-critical components, serve on certification boards, audit any corrective-action requirements, and identify any safety impacts associated with implementation of such requirements. 

What gets measured usually gets done. Safety is an intangible concept and is traditionally measured after the fact—once a loss has occurred. The SMS must be an audit-driven system that calls for ongoing measurement against the standards and quantification of the results. As Scottish scientist Lord Kelvin (1883) said, When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it. ... 

To a great extent, use of audits stems from quality management practices that began with ISO 9000 and related standards. The concept requires companies seeking to achieve ISO 9000 certification to thoroughly document their management systems to ensure quality defined by the standard. Then independent auditors visit the company and its operations to verify that it conforms to the standard and to internal policies and procedures. Later, international standards applied the overall process to other areas, including safety and health. 

A study of the development of the British railway network from the 1830s shows how railway engineers and their regulators grasped the concept of Safety Audit as the key to a safe transport system. In the early days of this form of mass transportation, accidents were common as the pioneers came to grips with the demands of moving people and goods, at previously unknown speeds, around the country. 

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