A Better Understanding of Safety of Engineered Systems

Abstract

Given the continued increase in scale and complexity of engineered systems, serious safety and risk management issues arise. There have been several catastrophic accidents, which are typically preceded by a number of seemingly unrelated occurrences that add up and cascade across subsystems. In the light of changing software and user interactions in engineered systems, traditional hazard analysis and risk assessment methodologies offer both benefits and drawbacks. Engineers working in contemporary businesses must be able to comprehend the features and characteristics that come from the interactions of components and subsystems as well as the risk assessment tools/approaches.Therefore, the goal of this paper is to increase awareness of the considerations for engineered systems and the risk assessment tools available for safety engineered systems. Specifically, this work focuses on the emergent properties of engineered systems, the various project phases, the available tools, their strengths and limitations and the codes/standards. A case study of the design and construction of a flash gas compression system is presented