System safety milestones

System Safety Milestones. A list of major tasks with accompanying suspense dates, it includes life cycle phase start and stop dates, dates when specified system safety products are due, dates of formal reviews, and any other relevant dates. 

System safety must be instituted into the facility and product acquisition process (including retrofitting and minor modifications). This section delineates the system safety milestones and safety products in the procurement process. This section should describe how the general procurement process works and how systan safety should be involved in this process. For example, the safety organization should make sure that safety requirements are part of the procurement tendering process and weU defined for bidders and vendors. Poor safety requirements definition has led not just to contract disputes but more importantly has many times led to poor safety management and ultimately to contributing to accidents. 

The purpose of the system safety program plan (SSPP) is to identify the specific system safety requirements for a given project, to include specified system safety tasks, risk assessment methodology and risk acceptance criteria, system safety products and milestones, and system safety organization. 

In most cases, a system safety effort can be planned and implemented within six months. A recommended milestone chart is shown in Figure 9-1. 

Figure 9-5 An example of a continuation milestone chart depicting system safety tasks and relative timing for a simple system safety program. SSWG+ indicates that persons other than, or in addition to, the SSWG may be involved.

The SSWG reviews the system safety program plan and verifies that the phases, milestones, and review points are accurate and adequate (Fig. 9-5). If necessary, these items are revised. 

Based on the system safety program plan and recommendations from other analyses (PHA, SSHAs), a system hazard analysis (SHA) may be required. The SHA is initiated as soon as input data from the SSHAs are available and completed at the review milestone indicated in the SSPP, normally around 60% design. 

System safety program plan A description of the planned methods to be used by the contractor to implement the tailored requirements of this standard, including organizational responsibilities, resources, methods of accomplishment, milestones, depth of effort, and integration with other program engineering and management activities and related systems (MIL-STD-882). 

Table 4.1 shows where each of the major safety milestones fits into the system life cycle. Safety activities are listed on the left-hand side. The remainder of the table describes the kinds of activities to be performed during each phase of the life cycle. As you can see, many of the activities are repeated throughout the life of the system, such as implementing and maintaining the system safety program plan (SSPP). 

The purpose of the 100-series tasks is to set up an effective system safety program in the corporate or organizational structure. These tasks establish the detailed program elements but also set up the safety organization, lines of organizational communication (as they pertain to system safety), and program milestones and establish the authority for resolution of identified hazards. 

Whereas the SSP consists of the actual people, activities, and products involved in implementing the system safety process, the SSPP is the document that formally defines the SSP tasks, products, interfaces, and milestones that will be required of the safety organization. The SSPP also defines the scope of the safety program and decision criteria to be used by the program. The SSPP should cover the essential core components of an SSP, plus all of the relevant SSP support activities that will be required. The SSP and SSPP can be tailored to fit the needs of the program based on system size, complexity, safety-criticality, funding, development schedule, and other significant constraints. 

Stage Gate SG2 forms the most important strategic milestone in the integrated life cycle becanse it determines the finther comse of the project. The developed design specification, the re-worked plans and the updated effort and cost estimates allow management to re-evaluate the project and to decide upon its future. If the decision is to continue the project, the activities of System Safety Assessment (SSA) and of system development are triggered. Those activities are monitored by project control. 

The system safety assessment (SSA) is an evolving document that provides the evidence (justification) to support the major procurement milestones and modification activities leading up to certification, acceptance into service and subsequent changes of design and operational use. It is the means for demonstrating that all the safety issues relating to the design and development task have been addressed. 

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