Systems engineering and safety : building the bridge

Abstract

Chapter 1 lays out the purpose of the methodology of systems engineering and the tools of safety. The main building block of this bridge is management, and the culture, commitment, communication, and coordination that management must provide. Chapter 2 describes systems engineering methodology: the life cycle, processes, and management. Chapter 3 describes the tool set of safety: techniques, processes, and management. Chapter 4 discusses the technical processes with which systems engineers and safety professionals must be familiar. Chapter 5 merges management, systems engineering, and safety into the life cycle through project processes. Chapter 6 examines the roles and responsibilities of management, and provides a breakdown theory of safety in the management processes: The Glismann Effect. Chapter 7 uses real-world examples-the explosion aboard the battleship USS Iowa, where forty-seven sailors were killed in 1989, and the previously mentioned NASA Shuttle disasters: Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. Chapter 8 discusses the road ahead, with a plea for all stakeholders involved to do their part to embrace systems engineering and safety, and to build the bridge.