The quality/ability/extent of being safe.
Safety in systems refers to the ability to operate without causing unacceptable risk of harm to people, the environment, or the system itself. It involves measures and mechanisms to prevent, detect, and respond to hazardous conditions or events.
As a system quality attribute, safety ensures that the system operates without leading to harmful conditions, protecting users, data, and the environment from potential hazards.
- Hazard Identification and Analysis: Identifying potential hazards and analyzing their causes and impacts.
- Fault Detection and Mitigation: Implementing mechanisms to detect faults and mitigate their effects to prevent harm.
- Fail-Safe Mechanisms: Designing systems to default to a safe state in case of failure.
As a non-functional requirement (NFR), safety specifies the conditions under which the system must operate safely, including limits on operational conditions and responses to hazardous situations.
- Safety Standards Compliance: Adhering to industry-specific safety standards and regulations.
- Risk Assessment and Management: Conducting regular risk assessments and managing identified risks throughout the system's lifecycle.
- Incident Response and Recovery: Establishing procedures for responding to and recovering from safety incidents.
As a cross-functional constraint, safety influences various aspects of system design, development, and operation, requiring coordinated efforts across different teams to ensure safety measures are integrated throughout the system.
- Collaborative Design: Engaging cross-functional teams to incorporate safety into system design from the outset.
- Ongoing Monitoring: Continuously monitoring system operations to identify and address safety issues promptly.
- Training and Awareness: Ensuring that all team members are aware of safety protocols and understand their roles in maintaining system safety.
To implement safety:
- Conduct Thorough Risk Assessments: Regularly identify and evaluate potential hazards and risks associated with the system.
- Adopt Safety Standards: Follow relevant safety standards and best practices specific to the industry and application domain.
- Design for Redundancy and Fault Tolerance: Incorporate redundant components and fault-tolerant designs to ensure the system can handle failures without compromising safety.
- Implement Safety-Critical Systems: Use specialized systems for safety-critical functions, ensuring they are isolated and robust against failures.
- Develop and Test Safety Protocols: Create detailed safety protocols and conduct rigorous testing to ensure they are effective in real-world scenarios.
- Monitor and Update: Continuously monitor system performance and update safety measures as needed to address emerging threats and vulnerabilities.
- Provide Training and Documentation: Offer comprehensive training and clear documentation to all stakeholders on safety practices and procedures.
- Establish Incident Response Plans: Prepare detailed incident response plans to quickly address and recover from safety-related incidents.
- Engage in Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and improve safety measures based on feedback, incidents, and advancements in technology and standards.
Define safe: In the context of computers and software, "safe" generally means that the technology does not do any harm to the user's system, data or privacy. A safe software or application is one that functions properly and reliably, without crashing, corrupting data or opening security vulnerabilities. Safe software is also free from malware or viruses, and does not engage in any malicious activities such as phishing, spying, or stealing user data. Safe computers refer to systems that are secure from external and internal threats, such as cyber-attacks, viruses, and unauthorized access.
-
Dictionary: safety: the state of being safe; freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, or loss. the quality of averting or not causing injury, danger, or loss.