Systems Engineering and Safety: Building the Bridge

Book Preface

This book is for systems engineering and safety professionals in all disciplines and industries, worldwide. If your knowledge of one discipline is aware of the existence and value of the other, then this book will enhance that awareness. In the event that you are involved in one discipline without knowledge of the other, then this book will help you, from the point of view of another equally important professional discipline, see how a relationship will benefit your organization and industry. If the function you serve is not directly involved with either systems engineering or safety, then I believe that this book will, in a clear and concise way, enlighten you to the value of each discipline and, even more importantly, illustrate the need to build a bridge between the two disciplines.

This book is unique because it was written by someone (me) who left college without an understanding, from either an educational or professional point of view, of systems engineering or safety. Over the course of the past twenty-five years, I have been enlightened, through continuing education and experience, while serving as both a systems engineer and a safety subject matter expert, and I have realized the need for integration and synergy between these two disciplines.

This book describes and gives examples of systems engineering methodology and safety tools, and describes the management needed to build the bridge between these two disciplines. This bridge must be properly built at the outset and maintained throughout the life cycle of the project.

The strength of this book is that it can be read, understood, and hopefully acted upon by the chief executive officer of a corporation, right down to the line manager of systems engineering or the subject matter expert in the safety department. This value can be measured in cost savings, be it in the form of human, social, or financial capital. Real-world examples will illustrate this point.

The challenge ahead is for all of us to reach across professional disciplines that we may have overlooked in the past, to work together on an interpersonal level, and to build the bridge between systems engineering and safety that will enlighten and help us. We need to overcome inertia and act on lessons learned. To all the systems engineering and safety professionals who utilize this book, please enjoy reading and keep up the good work.