System safety concept generalist practice

System safety professionals have achieved notable successes, and generalists in the practice of safety can learn valuable lessons from them. In MORT Safety Assurance Systems, William G. Johnson made the following comments, with which I agree, about accompKshments that could not have been achieved without applying system safety concepts. 

I am aware that my outline of The System Safety Idea does not fit precisely with any of the several definitions of system safety published. It encompasses most, and goes beyond several. I hope that it s of interest to more generalists in the practice of safety than are now applying system safety concepts. 1 am confident that the application of system safety concepts in the business and industrial setting would result in significant reductions in injuries and illnesses. 

In this chapter, it was my purpose to (a) recognize the many successes that have been achieved through the application of system safety concepts, (b) establish that fundamental system safety concepts can be applied by generalists in safety practice, (c) outline The System Safety Idea, and (d) encourage generahsts who have not adopted system safety concepts in their practices to commence the inquiry and education to do so. 

I sincerely beheve that we generalists in safety practice can learn from system safety successes and be more effective in our work through adopting system safety concepts. Their application in the occupational and product safety settings would result in significant reductions in injuries and illnesses. 

Relates the generalist s practice of safety to applied system safety concepts. 

System Safety The Concept This chapter outlines the system safety idea in terms that relate well to the definition of the practice of safety given in Chapter 2. Lessons can be learned from the successes attained by system safety practitioners. System safety is hazards and design based. So is the entirety of the practice of safety. As opportunities arise for generalist safety professionals to participate in the design processes, the need for system safety skills will be apparent. 

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