The Role of System Engineering in Safety

As the systems we build and operate increase in size and complexity, the use of sophisticated system engineering approaches becomes more critical. Important system-level (emergent) properties, such as safety, must be built into the design of these systems they cannot be effectively added on or simply measured afterward. 

The problem is that most engineering and even many system engineering techniques were developed under conditions and assumptions that do not hold for complex social systems, as discussed in part I. But STAMP and new system-theoretic approaches to safety can point the way forward for both complex technical and social processes. The general engineering and reengineering process described in part III apphes to all systems. 

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