UNIT III

SAFETY, RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS

Safety, Responsibilities and Rights - Safety and Risk –

Assessment of Safety and Risk –Risk Benefit Analysis and
Reducing Risk – The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl Case
Studies.
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What would you do?

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 SAFETY AND RISK
• We demand safe products...but we have to pay for safety.

• What may be safe enough for you, may not be for others
Example: Investing in Stock Market

• Absolute safety is neither attainable nor affordable

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 SAFETY

• A thing is safe if its risks are judged to be acceptable- Lowrance definition.

We buy an ill-designed Iron box in a sale -> Underestimating risk
 We judge fluoride in water can kill lots of people -> Overestimating risk
We hire a taxi, without thinking about its safety -> Not estimating risk

• “A thing is safe if, were its risks fully known, those risks would be judged
acceptable by a reasonable person” Mike Martin.

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 RISK
”A risk is the potential that something unwanted and harmful may occur”.

• We take a risk when we undertake something or use a product that is not safe.

• Risk in technology could include dangers of

 bodily harm,
 economic loss,
 environmental degradation.

• Risks always exist. True safety never exists, except in hypothetical situations. So,
Safety is 'acceptable risk'.
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 Acceptability of Risk
• A risk is acceptable when those affected are generally not apprehensive about
it. Apprehensiveness depends to a large extent on how the risk is perceived.
• Factors influencing the Apprehensiveness:
1. Whether the risk is accepted voluntarily.
2. The way in which the risk/ knowledge on probabilities of harm (or benefit)
are presented.
3. Whether the effects of a risky activity or situation are immediately
noticeable.
4. Whether the risk is job related.
5. The cultural tradition of a community or society.

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 Acceptability of Risk
•John and Ann enjoy riding motorcycles over rough ground for amusement. They
take voluntary risk, part of being engaged in such a potentially dangerous sport.

•John and Ann live near a chemical plant. It is the only area in which they can
afford to live. They worry about the risk.

•John work in the shipyard has in the past exposed him to asbestos. He is aware
of the high percentage of asbestosis cases among his co-workers.
– John figured that he was being paid to do a job; he felt the masks that were occasionally
handed out gave him sufficient protection.

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Acceptability of Risk

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Acceptability of Risk

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 Acceptability of Risk
• The survey was taken by researchers earlier. The researchers reported that 72 percent
of the respondents selected program A, and only 28 percent selected program B.

• But, Only 22 percent chose program C, which is the same as program A. Seventy- eight
percent chose program D, which is identical to program B.

• Options perceived as yielding firm gains will tend to be preferred over those from
which gains are only probable.

• Options emphasizing firm losses will tend to be avoided in favor of those whose
chances of success are perceived as probable.

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 Acceptability of Risk
• People don’t have as much of a problem with subjecting themselves to risks.

• We are much less apprehensive about the risks to which we expose ourselves
voluntarily than about those to which we are exposed involuntarily.

• People tend to be more willing to take risks in order to avoid perceived firm losses than
they are to win only possible gains.

• The manner in which information necessary for decision making is presented can
greatly influence how risks are perceived.

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 Acceptability of Risk
• Problems with the public’s conception of safety:
– – Over-optimistic with regard to familiar products that have not hurt
them before and that they have control over (Underestimating the risk).

– – Over-pessimism when accidents kill or claim large numbers or harm

those we know (e.g., aircraft crashes) (Overestimating the risk).

– – Indifference to risk people do not think of the risk factor at all. They
simply do not make judgements on risks.

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 RISK ASSESSMENT AND REDUCTION
• Absolute safety is not attainable.

• Improvements in safety incur additional costs.

• Products that are not safe incur secondary costs.

 Loss of customer goodwill and/or customers

 Warranty expenses
 Litigation
 Business failure? Loss of your professional employees? Bad hiring potential?
It is therefore important for manufacturers and users alike to reach some
understanding of the risks connected with any given product and know
what it might cost to reduce those risks
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 Hurdles in Risk Reduction/Assessment
• Safety issues, even for standard products, are often not well
understood
– Information is often not shared between industries, or even
engineers in an organization

• Uncertainties in design.

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 RISK ASSESSMENT AND REDUCTION

• P = Primary cost of product,

including cost of safety measures
involved;

• S = Secondary costs, including

warranties, loss of customer
goodwill, litigation costs, costs of
downtime, and other secondary
costs.

• T = total cost
Both low-risk and high-risk products are costly
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 RISK ASSESSMENT AND REDUCTION

• Minimum total cost occurs at M.

– Here, incremental savings in
primary cost (slope of P) are offset
by an equal incremental increase
in secondary cost (slope of S).

• Highest acceptable risk (H) may

fall below risk at least cost (M).
– Higher cost must be selected as
the design or operating point.

Both low-risk and high-risk products are costly

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 Risk Assessment, Degree of safety Vs Product
• Degree of safety proposed to be attained varies with the product, perception and cost of
risk involved.

 An aircraft is designed with a much greater level of safety than an automobile.

 A manned space vehicle has much more safety features than unmanned vehicle
because cost of lives is much higher than the cost of material things like the spacecraft.

 In addition, more standby systems are designed and incorporated to increase safety.

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 Safety Tests
1. Function Testing: Testing on the functions of the safety-system components.

2. Destructive testing: In this approach, testing is done till the component fails. It is too expensive, but
very realistic and useful.

3. Prototype testing: In this approach, the testing is done on a proportional scale model with all vital
components fixed in the system. Dimensional analysis could be used to project the results at the
actual conditions.

4. Simulation testing: With the help of computer, the simulations are done. The safe boundary may be
obtained. The effects of some controlled input variables on the outcomes can be predicted in a
better way.

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 Capability and Duty Curves
• Consider the maximum stress to be withstand by a assembled
product:

– The stress calculated by the engineer for a given condition of loading

and the stress that ultimately materializes at that loading may vary quite
a bit.

– This is because each component in an assembly has been allowed

certain tolerances in its physical dimensions and properties.

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 Capability and Duty Curves
– The result is that the assembly’s capability
as a whole cannot be given by a single
numerical value but must be expressed as a
probability density that can be graphically
depicted as a “capability” curve.

– For a given point on a capability curve, the

value along the vertical axis gives the
probability that the capability, or strength,
is equal to the corresponding value along
the horizontal axis.

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 Capability and Duty Curves
– A similar curve can be constructed for the duty that
the assembly will actually experience.

– The stress exposure varies because of differences in

loads, environmental conditions, or the manner in
which the product is used.

– The expected values of capability and duty curves are

represented as C and D.

– When Curve D is left of curve D, the safety is ensured.

– C/D is termed as the safety factor and should be

improved for safe operation.
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 Risk-Benefit Analyses
• Large projects are justified on the basis of a risk-benefit analysis.

– Is the product worth the risks connected with its use?

– What are the benefits?

– Do they outweigh the risks?

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 Risk-Benefit Analyses
• We are willing to take on certain levels of risk as long as the project
promises sufficient benefit or gain.

• If risk and benefit can both be readily expressed in a common set of

units (say, lives or dollars), it is relatively easy to carry out a risk-
benefit analysis.

• How do you place value in $$ on a human life??Human Rights/dignity/respect?

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 Examples of Improved Safety
• The magnetic door catch introduced on refrigerators to prevent
death by asphyxiation of children accidentally trapped in them.

• The catch in use today permits the door to be opened from the
inside without major effort.

• It also happens to be cheaper than the older types of latches.

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 Examples of Improved Safety
• Enabling handle used by engine driver to control a train’s speed.

• The train is powered only as long as some pressure is exerted on

the handle.

• If the driver becomes incapacitated and lets go of the handle, the

train stops automatically.

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 Examples of Improved Safety
• Self-driving cars such as Tesla will sound warnings if drivers take
their hands off the wheel for one minute at speeds above 45
miles per hour.

• If drivers ignore three warnings in an hour, the system will

temporarily shut off until the car is parked.

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 Examples of Improved Safety
• Reversing switch for permanent
magnet motor.
• Arms 1 and 2 of the switch are
both lowered Motor rotates CW.
• If motor to be rotated ACW, then
both arms should be raised.
• What if 2 is raised and 1 got stuck
down?

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 Examples of Improved Safety
• Reversing switch for permanent
magnet motor.
• A simple reconnection of wires
removes that problem.

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 Safe-Fail-Safe-Exit
 The product, when it fails, should fail safely.

 The product, when it fails, can be abandoned safely (it does

not harm others by explosion or radiation).

 The user can safely escape the product (e.g., ships need
sufficient number of life boats for all passengers and crew;
multi-storeyed buildings need usable fire escapes)
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• In the rush to bring a product onto the market, safety
considerations should not be overseen.

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