Basic Guide to System Safety

Instructional guide applying “prevention through design” concepts to the design and redesign of work premises, tools, equipment, and processes

Basic Guide to System Safety provides guidance on including prevention through design concepts within an occupational safety and health management system; through the application of these concepts, decisions pertaining to occupational hazards and risks can be incorporated into the process of design and redesign of work premises, tools, equipment, machinery, substances, and work processes, including their construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and ultimate disposal or reuse. These techniques provide guidance for a life-cycle assessment and design model that balances environmental and occupational safety and health goals over the lifespan of a facility, process, or product.

The updated Fourth Edition reflects current and emerging industry practices and approaches, providing an essential periodic review of the text to ensure its contents adequately meet the requirements of academia as well as other users in the occupational safety and health profession. The book also features a new chapter on Prevention through Design (PtD) and how it is linked to System Safety Engineering and Analysis.

Topics covered in Basic Guide to System Safety include:

• System safety criteria, including hazard severity and probability, the hazard risk matrix, and system safety precedence
• System safety efforts, including closed-loop hazard tracking systems, accident risk assessments, and mishap, accident, and incident reporting
• Fault or functional hazard analysis, management oversight and risk trees, HAZOP and what-if analyses, and energy trace and barrier analysis (ETBA)
• Sneak circuit analysis, including types and causes of sneaks, input requirements, and advantages and disadvantages of the technique

Providing essential fundamentals for readers who may not have a background or pre-requisite in the subject, Basic Guide to System Safety is an ideal introductory resource for the practicing safety and health professionals, along with advanced students taking industrial safety courses.

Jeffrey W. Vincoli is currently Managing Consultant for Technical Services with Progressive Safety Management. In this position, he provides consultative support for clients in the subject areas of Compliance Assessments, Incident Investigations, and Expert Witness Services. Prior to joining Progressive Safety Management in 2019, Jeff worked as Director of Compliance for ESH&QA for a Bechtel affiliate company known as Welded Construction, a pipeline contractor based in Ohio.