System Safety Program

U S. Department of Defense, MIL-STD-882-C, "Military Standard System Safety Program Requirements," Washington, DC, January 1993. 

The primary document outlining risk assessment methods in the U.S. Department of Defense is a Military Standard, Ref. 39. This document requires a well-documented system safety program, based on risk assessment methods to be included in all new Department of Defense systems and facilities. Hazards analyses of the systems are mandated by this publication. 

Safety, System Safety Program for Modernization and Expansion Projects," DRC-PBM Memorandum No. 385-3, Office of the Project Manager for Munitions Production Base Modernization and Expansion, Dover, NJ, April 1978. 

Department of Defense (U.S.), Military Standard System Safety Program Requirements. MIL-STD (w/notice 1), Washington, D.C., 1987. 

System Safety Program for Systems and Associated Subsystems and Equipment Requirements for. Mil Std 8S2, US Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., I5 July I969. (U)... 

Anon "System Safety program Requirements MIL-STD-88213 (30 March 1984)... 

For convenience, a table can be used to record the results of this part of the analysis. Other ways to record the information are also possible. In a classic System Safety program, the information would be included in the hazard log. Figure 8.3 shows the results of step 1 for the simple interlock example. The table contains four hazardous types of behavior ... 

A complete system safety program spans the entire life of the system and, in some ways, the safety program during operations is even more important than during development. System safety does not stop after development it is just getting started. The focus now, however, shifts to the operations safety control structure. 

In a traditional System Safety program, much of this information is found in or can be derived from the hazard log, but it needs to be pulled out and provided in a form that makes it easy to locate and use in operations. Recording design rationale and assumptions in intent specifications allows using that information both as the criteria under which enforcement of the safety constraints is predicated and in the inevitable upgrades and changes that will need to be made during operations. Chapter 10 shows how to identify and record the necessary information. 

The hazard analysis process was inadequate, and no control was exercised over the potential hazard of manually entering incorrect constants, a very common human error. If system safety engineers had identified the constants as critical, then a process would have existed for monitoring the generation of these critical variables. In fact, neither the existence of a system safety program or any form of hazard analysis is mentioned in the accident report. If such a program had existed, one would think it would be mentioned. 

Several texts include hazard analysis and risk assessment decision matrices. Every matrix I found has been adopted from those included in what was originally known as Military Standard—System Safety Program Requirements, MlL-STD-882. Its most recent version is now named Standard Practice for System Safety, MIL-STD-882D, 2000. Influence of that standard will be obvious in the remainder of this chapter. 

The system safety programs used in aerospace, nuclear, and military projects provided a well-ordered guide to some requirements for a superlative effort. Indeed, they are a route to accomplishing things which would otherwise be beyond human reach [p. 127]. 

System Safety 2000 by Joe Stephenson. This book begins with a history of and the fundamentals of system safety. Then, the author moves into system safety program planning and management, along with system safety analysis techniques. About half of the book is devoted to those techniques. A safety generalist would find it a good and not too difficult read. 

MIL-S-381308A revised and designated MIL-STD-882B, System Safety Program Requirements (1969)... 

Early system safety requirements were generated by the US. Air Force Ballistic System Division. Early air force documents provided the basis for MIL-STD-882 (July 1969), System Safety Program for Systems and Associated Subsystems and Equipment Requirements for. This document (and revisions MIL-STD-882A and MIL-STD-882B) became, and remain, the bible for the Department of Defense (DOD) system safety effort (Moriarty and Roland 1983). 

Even thou the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) developed its own system safety program and requirements, the development closely paralleled the MIL-STD-882 approach and the DOD effort, primarily because the two agencies tend to share contractors, personnel, and, to a lesser degree, missions. 

In the late 1960s, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), aware of system safety efforts in the DOD and NASA communities, made the decision to hire William G. Johnson, retired manager of the National Safety Council, to develop a system safety program for the AEC. 

Most major system safety programs to date have involved government acquisitions. Thus, how has tended to be a two-part question. First, how does the government develop system safety requirements, communicate these requirements to the appropriate contractors, and manage the effort to ensure that the requirements are met ... 

Second, how do contractors develop and implement a system safety program to perform the tasks necessary to meet the government requirements ... 

The plan developed by the contractor to meet the system safety program requirement of the government (as specified in the contract) is generally called the system safety program plan (SSPP). 

The system safety program plan generally includes detailed information about system safety personnel (responsibilities, qualifications, and level of effort), procedures (tasks to be performed and techniques to be used), and products (format and schedule). 

Management has the overall responsibility for ensuring that system safety programs are established, that they are adequately staffed at all levels, that the training is conducted for all personnel associated with the system safety effort, that safety concerns are identified and communicated, and that adequate resources are allocated. 

The safety community has the responsibility for providing the staff support to know, teach, and apply the specific system safety tools and techniques and to help establish and monitor system safety programs. 

Where previous versions of the standard (particularly versions B and C) provided detailed requirements and specify how to implement the system safety program, the current version is focused more toward the way the acquisition contract is prepared. The current procedure is important because it provides some flexibility to the acquisition program manager to create a system safety program that fits the particular acquisition. 

The most common and widespread approach to system safety is that taken by the DOD and DOD contractors. TTiey originally developed and implemented system safety programs. The DOD approach is based on MIL-STD-882B system safety program requirements. 

Familiarity with MIL-STD-882B is necessary in order to understand DOD system safety programs. This document was officially issued on 30 March 1984 to supercede MIL-STD-882A (28 June 1977) and was updated by Notice 1 on 1 July 1987. 

The task descriptions are broken into three sections. The requirements for system safety programs are to be developed by selecting tasks appropriate for each individual project or program. 

Appendix A Guidance for implementation of system safety program requirements... 

Appendix B System safety program requirements related to life cycle phases... 

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