Hazardous States and Accidents
a day ago
- #system theory
- #safety-critical systems
- #hazardous states
- Hazardous states are potential accidents that occur when combined with unfavorable environmental conditions, while accidents are actual losses.
- Safety is achieved by avoiding hazardous states, as environmental conditions are uncontrollable; relying on good conditions is unreliable over time.
- Maintaining safety constraints is a dynamic control problem involving feedback, mental models, and control actions; failures in these can lead to hazardous states.
- Predicting hazardous states is easier than predicting accidents, allowing proactive safety improvements without waiting for actual accidents to occur.
- Analyzing hazardous states, rather than just accidents, enables continuous safety enhancements, as seen in industries like aviation compared to software.
- The perspective draws from systems theory, particularly influenced by Nancy Leveson, emphasizing constraint-based safety over traditional root cause analysis.