'Technical Safety’ or ‘System Safety’? Why Names Matter

Authors

  • Sergio Oliva Wild Well Control
  • Ricardo Lopez ERM

Keywords:

technical safety, system safety, functional safety, names

Abstract

By providing safety and risk management consulting services, we have the opportunity to be regularly involved with clients from a number of different industries. We often interact with professionals of varied trajectories and backgrounds, many of whom have never received comprehensive training in system safety. Those individuals are by no means less competent in their jobs; however, their schooling in system safety often comes from a senior colleague or mentor who held a safety-related position during a long career in a single industry. More often than not, the individual’s understanding of system safety is reduced to his or her limited exposure to this rich and diverse field.

Author Biographies

Sergio Oliva, Wild Well Control

Sergio Oliva until recently was a senior safety and risk consultant at ERM in Houston, Texas. He currently works for Wild Well Control, Inc. Sergio has more than 17 years of multi-industry experience, and holds a master’s degree in engineering from Texas A&M University at College Station. He is a certified safety professional (CSP) who is also experienced in system safety, reliability and quantitative risk assessment. He has authored reports and professional publications, including peer-reviewed technical papers in renowned scientific journals. He is a member of the International System Safety Society.

Ricardo Lopez, ERM

Ricardo Lopez is a principal consultant in safety and risk management within ERM’s Houston office. He has more than 30 years of experience in civil engineering and a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Houston at Clear Lake. Ricardo has led efforts on reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) analyses, financial risk, building site assessments and quantitative risk analyses of capital projects for major oil and gas companies.

References

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“System Safety Links,” International System Safety Society, accessed September 13, 2013, http://www.system-safety.org/links/

Air Force Safety Agency, Kirtland Air Force Base. “Air Force System Safety Handbook (AFB NM 87117-5670),” July 2000.

International Electrotechnical Commission. “Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/ Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems,” IEC 61508 International Standard, Part 4.

Civil Aviation Authority. “Safety management systems for commercial air transport operations,” CAP 712, April 2002.

U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “29 CFR 1910.119 Federal Regulation, Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals,“ July 2011.

Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OSL). “Technical Safety,” NORSOK Standard S-001, Edition 4, February 2008.

U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “10 CFR Part 830 Federal Regulation, Nuclear Safety Management,” January 2011.

Salter, M. “Managing the Operational Safety Case in High-Risk Systems,” MS Thesis, University of York, Department of Computer Science, September 2006.

Stamatelatos, M. and H. Dezfuli. “Probabilistic Risk Assessment Procedures Guide for NASA Managers and Practitioners (NASA/SP-2011-3421),” Second Edition, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance NASA Headquarters, December 2011.

‘ Technical Safety’ or ‘System Safety’? Why Names Matter

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Published

2014-06-01

How to Cite

Oliva, S., & Lopez, R. (2014). ’Technical Safety’ or ‘System Safety’? Why Names Matter. Journal of System Safety, 50(2), 39–41. Retrieved from https://jsystemsafety.com/index.php/jss/article/view/229

Issue

Vol. 50 No. 2 (2014): Selling the Need for Safety

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