Notes on Society History

A Historical View of System Safety Orthodoxy

Abstract

A Webster’s definition of “orthodoxy” is “a belief or a way of thinking that is accepted as true or correct.” The founding fathers of our Society were convinced that the System Safety Concept (SSC), as articulated by Chuck Miller and other visionaries of that time, was true and correct. Moreover, it provided a critical means for reducing the catastrophic aerospace mishaps so prevalent during our “Cold War” race for nuclear missile supremacy, a key to preventing World War III. At that time, system safety — the “new kid on the block” — was being challenged by the design, reliability, quality and traditional safety interests as being redundant to their activities and an unnecessary drain on available funding.