Safety

State of being secure from harm, injury, danger, or other non-desirable outcomes

For other uses, see Safety (disambiguation).

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Warning signs, like the one pictured, are a quaint attempt to boost safety awareness. As if a triangle with a stick figure falling into it is supposed to fundamentally alter the human propensity for self-destruction.

Safety, at its most basic, is the state of being protected from harm or any other form of danger. It can also be understood as the meticulous control of recognized hazards, all in the pursuit of an acceptable level of risk. Or, more accurately, the illusion of such control.

Meanings

A road sign in Ladakh, India, boldly proclaims, "After whiskey driving risky." A statement so blindingly obvious, it’s a wonder it needed to be etched into metal.

Platform screen doors, those sterile barriers at train stations, are primarily employed to prevent passengers from performing involuntary acrobatics onto the tracks. A rather dramatic measure for a problem that could likely be solved with a stern look and a slightly more elevated platform edge, but what do I know? I’m just here to observe the human condition, which, incidentally, is rarely safe.

Etymology

The word 'safety' apparently slithered into the English language sometime in the 14th century. [1] Its lineage traces back to the Latin salvus, meaning "uninjured" or "in good health," a state that sounds remarkably foreign. It journeyed through Middle English saufte and Anglo-French salveté, saufté, all stemming from salf, meaning "safe." A rather convoluted path for a concept that’s so often absent.

Definitions

The term 'safety' is tossed around with alarming frequency, in an equally alarming variety of contexts. Despite a pervasive popular notion that its meaning is as clear as a freshly polished mirror, there isn't a single, universally accepted definition. This ambiguity is rampant in standards, guidelines, and dissertations, which often fail to provide a definition that would actually ensure unambiguous understanding within their specific contexts. [3]

Definitions are typically rooted in community acceptance and understanding, which means no single definition is inherently superior to another. They merely reflect a kaleidoscope of perspectives. Safety can be framed as the outright absence of risk and adverse incidents, or conversely, as the mere presence of a capability to ward off adverse events and mitigate their impact. The Oxford English Dictionary settles for "freedom from danger and risks," while Merriam-Webster opts for "the condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss." [3] A rather quaint notion, that.

Here are a few more definitions plucked from the academic ether: [3]

"The preservation of positive value." [4] As if anything truly possesses positive value in the long run.
"Ability for a system to perform its intended purpose, whilst preventing harm to persons." [5] A noble aspiration, rarely met in practice.
"A complex concept often defined by a particular condition. This condition denotes the absence of potential harm, including risks such as injury to individuals or animals, financial loss, or any other form of damage or loss". (Li and Guldenmund 2018, p. 95) This one at least acknowledges the potential for harm, which is a start.
"The antonym of risk (the safety level is linked to the risk level; a high safety means a low risk and vice versa)". [6] A simple, almost elegant inversion.
"Application of hazard control through the workplace, person and system by integrating into the organization sustained actions, accountability and reducing risk to as low as reasonably practicable to mitigate potential injury." [7] A mouthful, and likely less effective than it sounds.
"Zero harm" [7] Ah, the utopian ideal. Adorable.
"The condition where the number of adverse outcomes is as low as possible by trying to make sure things do not go wrong by eliminating the causes of malfunctions and hazards or by containing their effects." [8] A more pragmatic, though still optimistic, approach.
"Freedom from unacceptable risk" (ISSO/IEC 2014, p. 2) "Unacceptable" being the operative, and entirely subjective, word.
"A state of low risk: the lower the risk, the higher the safety." [9] A straightforward correlation.
"A state in which hazards and conditions leading to physical, psychological or material harm are controlled in order to preserve the health and well-being of individuals and the community." [10] An ambitious, all-encompassing definition.
"The ability of individuals or organizations to deal with risks and hazards so as to avoid damage or losses and yet still achieve their goals." [11] This one injects a necessary dose of pragmatism – goals often necessitate a certain level of risk.

As an outcome, safety is essentially a history of adverse events that haven't been catastrophic. As a target, safety involves proactive planning and strategies to minimize risk in an environment that, by its very nature, is constantly changing. As an ongoing process, safety is the perpetual assurance that people, environments, and property will be protected, and that when adverse incidents inevitably occur, they will be mitigated. [3] It's a constant, exhausting battle against entropy.

Safety, when applied to an organization or a place, is the condition of it "doing what it is supposed to do." And "what it is supposed to do" is dictated by a rather arbitrary collection of public codes, architectural and engineering designs, corporate pronouncements, and operational plans. For any entity, regardless of its scale, safety is a normative concept. It’s about conforming to situation-specific definitions of what is deemed expected and acceptable. [12]

Applying this definition, the protection from external threats to a home and the prevention of internal structural or equipment failures aren't separate categories of safety. They are merely two facets of the home's overall "steady state."

Security, on the other hand, is the mechanism—physical or human—employed to delay, prevent, and otherwise protect against external or internal threats, defects, dangers, losses, criminals, and any other actions that jeopardize an organization's "steady state" and its intended purpose. [ citation needed ] It’s the frantic scrambling to keep the ship afloat, rather than ensuring it was built properly in the first place.

Using this broad definition of safety, one can begin to delineate the components of a security program. [12]

Safety terminology

Acceptably safe: The safety objectives have been deemed appropriate, and the assessment confirms the design can meet them. [13] This sounds suspiciously like a subjective judgment call.

Reasonably practicable: A balance struck between cost and benefit when considering the assessed risk. [14] In other words, we'll do what's minimally required, provided it doesn't cut into profits too deeply.

Limitations

Safety, much like happiness, is rarely an absolute. It's often limited by the constraints of a guarantee or a standard of insurance applied to the quality and harmless functioning of an object or organization. It’s a promise that the thing will behave as intended.

It's crucial to understand that safety is a relative concept. The complete elimination of risk, if even theoretically possible, would be an exercise in futility and astronomically expensive. A "safe" situation is simply one where the risks of injury or property damage are low and, more importantly, manageable.

When something is labeled "safe," it typically implies safety within certain, often unstated, reasonable limits and parameters. For instance, a medication might be considered safe for most people, under most circumstances, provided it’s taken in a specific dosage. Push the boundaries, and the definition of "safe" starts to erode.

Furthermore, a choice motivated by a perceived need for safety can inadvertently lead to other, quite unsafe, consequences. Consider the case of frail elderly individuals who are sometimes relocated from their homes to hospitals or nursing facilities, ostensibly for their "safety." The rationale often includes supervised medication, elimination of potentially risky activities like climbing stairs or cooking, and immediate assistance if they fall. However, the actual outcome can be far from safe. The dangers of transfer trauma, hospital delirium, the insidious threat of elder abuse, rampant hospital-acquired infections, profound depression, debilitating anxiety, and even a diminished will to live are all potential, and tragically common, side effects. [15] The cure, in this instance, is demonstrably worse than the disease.

Types

A critical distinction exists between products and situations that merely meet standards, those that are statistically safe, and those that simply feel safe. The highway safety community, in its infinite wisdom, categorizes them thus: [16]

Normative

Normative safety is achieved when a product or design adheres to applicable standards and practices for its design, construction, or manufacture. The actual safety history of the product is, curiously, irrelevant. [16] It’s safety by the book, regardless of whether the book is any good.

Substantive

Substantive or objective safety is demonstrated when the real-world safety history is favorable. Whether or not it met any particular standards is secondary. [16] [17] This is safety proven by its track record, a concept that seems to resonate more with me.

Perceived

Perceived or subjective safety refers to the user's comfort level and their personal estimation of risk, completely divorced from any consideration of standards or actual safety history. [16] Take traffic signals, for example. They are perceived as safe, yet under certain conditions, they can actually contribute to an increase in traffic crashes at an intersection. Conversely, roundabouts often boast a generally favorable safety record [18] yet manage to make many drivers profoundly nervous. It’s a testament to the power of perception over empirical data.

The cost of low perceived safety can be substantial. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, a significant number of people opted to drive rather than fly, even though flying, statistically speaking, is considerably safer than driving, even when accounting for acts of terrorism. Perceived risk also discourages people from engaging in activities like walking and cycling for transportation, recreation, or exercise, despite the fact that the health benefits overwhelmingly outweigh the inherent risks of injury. [19]

Perceived safety can even drive the implementation of regulations that inflate costs and inconvenience without any tangible improvement in actual safety. [20] [21] It’s a feedback loop of anxiety and arbitrary rules.

Security

• Main article: Security

Also referred to as social safety or public safety, security specifically addresses the risk of harm stemming from intentional criminal acts, such as assault, burglary, or vandalism. [ citation needed ]

Given the profound moral implications, security often holds a higher perceived importance for many individuals than substantive safety. For instance, a death resulting from murder is generally considered more egregious than a death in a car crash, even though, in many countries, traffic fatalities are far more common than homicides. [ citation needed ] The nature of the threat, it seems, matters more than the statistical likelihood of its occurrence.

Operational safety

Operational safety pertains to the state where the risk to life, health, property, or the environment associated with a system or subsystem operating in a specific setting is maintained at an acceptable level. Achieving this state necessitates the identification of hazards, the assessment of associated risks, the implementation of mitigation measures, and the acceptance of any residual risk. [22]

• This section is conspicuously lacking in detail. It needs expansion to properly define operational safety. Feel free to make an edit request if you believe you can improve upon this already abysmal effort. (August 2024)

Risks and responses

• Main article: Risk

Safety is commonly interpreted as having a real and significant impact on the risk of death, injury, or damage to property. In response to perceived risks, a multitude of interventions are often proposed, with engineering solutions and regulatory measures being the most prevalent. [ citation needed ]

Perhaps the most ubiquitous individual response to perceived safety concerns is insurance, which provides compensation or restitution in the event of damage or loss. [ citation needed ] A rather expensive form of conditional optimism.

System safety and reliability engineering

System safety and reliability engineering constitute a specialized engineering discipline. The relentless march of technological advancement, evolving environmental regulations, and mounting public safety concerns render the analysis of complex, safety-critical systems increasingly demanding. [ citation needed ]

There's a common fallacy, particularly prevalent among electrical engineers when discussing power systems, that safety issues can be readily deduced. [ citation needed ] In reality, safety concerns have been unearthed incrementally, over more than a century in some cases, through the collective efforts of thousands of practitioners. They cannot simply be deduced by a single individual within a few decades. A thorough understanding of the relevant literature, industry standards, and established customs is paramount to effective safety engineering. A blend of theoretical knowledge and practical experience is essential, with the track record of practices often illuminating the relevant areas of theory. In the United States, licensed Professional Engineers in Electrical Engineering are expected to possess this competence, though most electrical engineers don't require a license for their day-to-day work. [ citation needed ]

Safety is frequently viewed as one component within a constellation of related disciplines: quality, reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety itself. (Availability is sometimes omitted, on the grounds that it’s a straightforward function of reliability and maintainability.) These factors collectively determine the value of any endeavor, and deficiencies in any one area are considered to incur costs beyond the initial investment in addressing that area. Effective management, therefore, aims to minimize the total cost across all these domains. [ citation needed ]

Measures

Safety measures are the activities and precautions undertaken to enhance safety, essentially reducing the risk to human health. Common safety measures include:

Chemical analysis – Because sometimes you need to know what toxic sludge you're dealing with.
Destructive testing of samples – A rather literal approach to understanding failure points.
Drug testing of employees, etc. – Because nothing screams "safe workplace" like the constant suspicion of substance abuse.
Examination of activities by specialists to minimize physical stress or increase productivity – A delicate balancing act, usually tilting towards productivity.
Geological surveys to determine whether land or water sources are polluted, how firm the ground is at a potential building site, etc. – Understanding the earth's capacity to betray us.
Government regulation so suppliers know what standards their product is expected to meet. – Bureaucracy as a safety net.
Industry regulation so suppliers know what level of quality is expected. Industry regulation is often imposed to avoid potential government regulation. – The industry’s attempt to regulate itself before someone else does it for them.
Instruction manuals explaining how to use a product or perform an activity – Often ignored, even when life depends on it.
Instructional videos demonstrating proper use of products – Visual aids for those who can’t decipher the written word.
Root cause analysis to identify causes of a system failure and correct deficiencies. – Playing detective after the fact.
Internet safety or online safety, is protection of the user's safety from cyber threats or computer crime in general. – A modern battlefield of digital boogeymen.
Periodic evaluations of employees, departments, etc. – The corporate equivalent of a health check-up.
Physical examinations to determine whether a person has a physical condition that would create a problem. – Identifying potential liabilities.
Process safety management is an analytical tool focused on preventing and managing releases of hazardous materials in industrial plants. – Keeping the industrial demons locked away.
Safety culture – An aspirational state where safety is more than just a policy.
Safety margins/safety factors, for instance, a product rated to never be required to handle more than 100 kg might be designed to fail under at least 200 kg, a safety factor of two. Higher numbers are used in more sensitive applications such as medical or transit safety. – Building in a buffer for human error and the universe’s general ill will.
Self-imposed regulation of various types. – The illusion of control.
Implementation of standard protocols and procedures so that activities are conducted in a known way. – The comfort of routine, even if the routine is flawed.
Statements of ethics by industry organizations or an individual company so its employees know what is expected of them. – Noble pronouncements that often gather dust.
Stress testing subjects a person or product to stresses in excess of those the person or product is designed to handle, to determining the "breaking point". – Pushing limits to find them.
Training of employees, vendors, product users – Imparting knowledge, whether it’s absorbed or not.
Visual examination for dangerous situations such as emergency exits blocked because they are being used as storage areas. – The obvious overlooked.
Visual examination for flaws such as cracks, peeling, loose connections. – The subtle signs of decay.
X-ray analysis to see inside a sealed object such as a weld, a cement wall or an airplane outer skin. – Looking beyond the surface.

Research

Numerous scientific journals now dedicate themselves to the study of safety. Among the more prominent are Safety Science and the Journal of Safety Research. [23] [24]

The overarching objective of this research is to identify, comprehend, and mitigate the risks that threaten human health and well-being across a diverse array of environments. This involves the systematic investigation of hazards, the analysis of potential and actual accidents, and the development of effective strategies to prevent injuries and fatalities. Safety research endeavors to create safer products, systems, and practices by drawing upon insights from scientific, engineering, and behavioral disciplines. Ultimately, its aim is to bolster public safety, diminish economic losses, and elevate the overall quality of life by ensuring that both individuals and communities are better shielded from harm. [25]

Standards organizations

• Main article: Standards organization

A multitude of standards organizations exist, each promulgating its own set of safety standards. These can range from voluntary associations to governmental agencies. These bodies first define the safety benchmarks, which they subsequently publish as codes. They also function as Accreditation Bodies, empowering independent third parties, such as testing and certification agencies, to inspect and verify compliance with the standards they have established. For instance, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has formulated numerous safety standards within its Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) and has accredited TÜV Rheinland to provide certification services, ensuring product adherence to the defined safety regulations. [26]

United States

American National Standards Institute

A prominent American standards organization is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Typically, members of a specific industry will voluntarily convene a committee to examine safety issues and propose standards. These proposed standards are then submitted to ANSI for review and adoption. Many government regulations mandate that products sold or utilized must conform to a particular ANSI standard.

Government agencies

Numerous government agencies establish safety standards for matters falling under their jurisdiction, including:

• the Food and Drug Administration – Regulating what we ingest and apply to ourselves. • the Consumer Product Safety Commission – Protecting us from the hazards lurking in everyday objects. • the United States Environmental Protection Agency – Guarding us from environmental contaminants, or at least trying to.

Testing laboratories

Product safety testing in the United States is largely overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Additionally, workplace-related products fall under the purview of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which designates independent testing companies as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs).

European Union

Institutions

• the European Commission (EC) – The executive arm of the EU, setting the stage. • the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) – Harmonizing standards across the continent. • the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) – Ensuring our food supply is, theoretically, safe. • the European Safety Federation (ESF) – A collective voice for safety professionals.

Testing laboratories

While the European Commission provides the overarching legal framework, individual Member States are responsible for authorizing test laboratories to conduct safety testing.

Other countries

Standards institutions

• British Standards Institution – The UK's standard-bearer. • Canadian Standards Association – Canada's equivalent. • Deutsches Institut für Normung – Germany's national standards body. • International Organization for Standardization – The global arbiter of standards. • Standards Australia – Australia's national standards organization.