by Donald M. Layton
[Editor’s note: This editorial originally appeared in Vol 6 Issue 5 of Hazard Prevention (now Journal of System Safety) in June-July 1970. It has been reformatted from the original, but the text is otherwise unchanged.]
A quick perusal of a listing of professional engineering societies is enough to make one wonder if all of this is really necessary. Is a professional society really a necessary adjunct to one’s profession, or are such groups formed just to foster the whims of a small, elite group of people? Without pausing to assess the merits of any of the hundreds of other societies, let us take inventory of what SSS is, what it is doing, and what it may do in an effort to ascertain whether we really need the Systems Safety Society.
The concept of safety in industrial activity has been with us longer than it has been officially recognized. Some safety practices were implicitly recognized long before these practices were tagged with a formal title of safety. Industrial safety seems to have taken the forefront in the attempt to identify and eliminate hazards in production procedures. In general, however, these groups were concerned with the safety of preparation (manufacturing) and not in the safety of the ultimate consumer. But with the advent of forms of built-in consumer safety-under such appellations as product insurance, product assurance and even quality control, efforts began to be expended to eliminate or reduce the potential hazards before the product reached the hands of the consumer.
A System Safety Society charter and pin does not make a professional organization. If we are to achieve recognition as an association of the highest standards, we must work hard at it.
Many people in the safety field recognized at this time that there existed a need for an interchange of information in regard to methods and procedures, not only to improve the product, but also to lessen the load on those who were charged with safety and safety improvements.
In the late 1950’s, the concept of safety of the system vice safety of the bits and pieces began to be recognized, not only at the safety level, but even at higher levels of management. As the years progressed, the manufacturers found that specific safety efforts were no longer on a ‘nice to have’ basis, but now began to be included in work statements via the route of the Mil Spec and later, the Mil Std. At long last, there came to be a realization among other than the safety types that a concentrated safety effort across the board was not only a worthwhile task, but also that it might be funded by other than overhead.
The possibility of including System Safety as a discipline to stand alongside Reliability, Maintainability brought not only recognition to the safety engineer, but it also enlarged the scope and depth of his endeavors. It was about this time that a group of these dedicated safety engineers felt that the time was propitious to establish a formal association of those who were working in this field.
The mere establishment of such a society, however, is not an indication of its merits, but the post-formation activities of the System Safety Society have already demonstrated that this is going to be much more than a membership club. Interest in the promotion of the basic aims of the society has resulted in the chartering of local Chapters, all of which have active programs. This, in itself, is almost the ultimate in accomplishment for a national association, since the real strength of the SSS, or any other professional group, lies not in a strong upper hierarchy (although that is of prime necessity) but in activities on the personal level.
All of the functions cannot be focussed at the Chapter level, for by so doing, the activities will overlook and slight a great many of those who need to be reached. One danger that is always present even with an optimum local/national mix of activities is that the program and projects tend to become incestuous in nature. Although there exists a need to ‘spread the word’ among safety engineers, there is perhaps as great a requirement to indoctrinate those in other disciplines as to the necessities, peculiarities and advantages of a strong system safety engineering program.
An excellent example of the latter activity may be found in the participation of the System Safety Society in the annual Reliability and Maintainability Conference. (See Safety Has Its Day, this issue). Even before the establishment of SSS, there was a concentrated safety flavor to the meetings of this conference. Individuals (many of whom were among the founders of the Society) organized sessions and presented papers as early as 1965. This forum not only permitted those of like interests to talk among themselves, but also offered the opportunity for those of the related disciplines to gain a little insight as to what was going on in safety.
Now as to the future. Two great needs must be fulfilled if we are to improve the stature of the SSS to that of a truly ‘professional’ professional society. First, as a continuation and improvement of the effort that has already been seen at the R & M Conference, a concerted program to include safety-oriented papers in national meetings must be established and maintained. A quick look at but one segment, the AIAA, shows a minimum of seven meetings in the next year that could fit one or more safety papers into their general theme.
The second need is possibly even more urgent if we are to speak as the voice of System Safety. The origin of this association was in the aerospace field for it was here that the concepts leading to the Mil Spec were founded. But in our early growth there has been some evidence of the neglect of some of the other aspects of the safety community. This neglect is probably more due to external circumstances than to any internal workings, but now is the time to invite, persuade and even cajol such activities as nuclear, highway, rail, consumer product and industrial safety to join with us in furthering the cause. Of course, there are those in SSS who are representative of these fields, but we have only begun to tap this vital resource. There is an ancient axiom that states that we must profit from the mistakes of others since we do not have time to make all of the mistakes ourselves. It should be obvious that there have been lessons learned in other fields that may have direct or indirect application to some of the problems that we are facing.
How can we achieve this broadening of the base of the System Safety Society? One way is for local Chapter programs to include those from allied safety fields either as speakers or just as guests. Equally opportune is the offering of our services to talk about our problems (and solutions).
If you know of some group, such as traffic safety for example, that has some form of get-together, why not offer yourself for a visit to their meeting? The number of these groups and individuals in these fields (many who have never joined any society because no one ever asked them) is legion. Did you know that there is a society with a safety section that is called Women’s National Aeronautical Association of the United States, Inc.? They are a great bunch, but I wouldn’t want my sister to marry one of them.
A System Safety Society charter and pin does not make a professional organization. If we are to achieve recognition as an association of the highest standards, we must work hard at it.
[Editor Note: Donald M. Layton was the former editor of Hazard Prevention and the 1984 ISSS Educator of the Year. He was a professor at the Naval Post Graduate School. He passed away in 2017 at the age of 94. Read his professional biography.]
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