Chapter 6 - Modern Concepts of Accident Prevention
Old View Points Safety won’t sell Operator error & negligence are principal accident causes Most accidents are caused by accident-prone persons Engineers are educated enough to design safe products
Old View Points Failures are principal causes of accidents Seal of approval or label from accredited testing laboratory means product is safe Product designed & manufactured in accordance with industry standards will be a safe product Making a product or operation safe increases costs
Old View Points Increasing safety slows operations Safety cannot be legislated It is impossible to determine the safety problems of a new product before it is built Corrections can be made if & after an accident indicates where a danger exists
Old View Points The time to check a new product for safety is when the first prototype or model is tested A product’s safety can be ensured by making a detailed analysis & test after the prototype is developed If a product is used in a way the manufacturer did not intend, the manufacturer cannot be held liable if an injury results
Old View Points Warning of a hazard is adequate defense against a claim resulting from an injury due to the hazard the manufacturer warned against It costs less to cover losses with insurance than to spend money making products safe since the probability of an accident is low Designers make safety one of their primary considerations
System Safety Concept Safety management & engineering is a continuing process that begins with the first steps in the development of a product Numerous methods have been developed to support the process: Fault tree analysis MORT HAZOP Event Tree Analysis
Hazard Categories Dangerous properties / characteristics of a product which may be inherent, the result of design error, production defect, etc. Material failure - result of design error, production defects, environmental stress, or operator error
Hazard Categories Operator error (may be due to design error) Environmental stresses (indirectly or directly causing injury or damage). Controlled or eliminated by good design