KNF 3102

Engineering Ethics
Commitment To Safety
(Part 2)
Assessing and Reducing Risk
 Any improvement in safety in an engineered product is often
accompanied by an increase in product cost.

 Products that are not safe incur secondary costs to the manufacturer
beyond the production cost – warranty expenses, loss of customers
because of injuries, possible production downtime, litigation, etc.

 It is 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.

2
 Benefits of Risk Analysis
Why both low-risk and high-risk products are
costly?

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.

Why both low-risk and high-risk productsMinimum

are costly?total P cost occurs cost
= primary at M, of where
incremental savings in primary cost (slope of P)
product, including cost of safety measures involved; S = secondary costs,
are offset by an equal incremental increase in
including warranties, loss of customer goodwill,
secondarylitigation costs,
cost (slope of S). costs of
downtime, and other secondary costs. T = total cost. Minimum total cost occurs
at M, where incremental savings in primary Highest acceptable
cost (slope risk
of P)(H)are
mayoffset
fall below risk at
by an
equal incremental increase in secondaryleast costcost (M), inofwhich
(slope case H andacceptable
S). Highest its higher cost
must be selected as the design or operating point.
risk (H) may fall below risk at least cost (M), in which case H and its higher cost
must be selected as the design or operating point. 3
Uncertainties in Design
 Provide good information (collected and published) about the safety
of standard products.

 Gaps remain due to

i. Some industries where information is not freely shared. For
instance, when the cost of failure is less than the cost of fixing
the problem,
ii. the problems and their causes are often not revealed after a
legal settlement has been reached with a condition of
nondisclosure, and
iii. there are always new applications of old technology, or
substitutions of materials and components, that render the
available information less useful.

4
Uncertainties in Design
 Risk is seldom intentionally designed into a product. It arises because of the
many uncertainties faced by the design engineers, manufacturing engineers and
even the sales and applications engineers.

 Design that do well under static loads may fail under dynamic loading. There are
also uncertainties regarding materials, design and manufacturing skills.

 Engineers traditionally have coped with such uncertainties about materials or

components, as well as incomplete knowledge about the actual operating
conditions of their products, by introducing a comfortable “factor of safety”.

 This factor is intended to protect against problems that arise when the stresses
due to anticipated loads depart from their expected values.

5
Risk-Benefit Analyses
 Many large projects are justified on the basis of a risk-benefit analysis.

 We are willing to take certain levels of risk as long as the project (activity,
product, or system) promises sufficient benefit.

 If risk and benefit can both be readily expressed in a common set of units (lives or
RM), then it is relatively easy to carry out a risk-benefit analysis.

 Both risks and benefits lie in the future. Since there is uncertainties associated with
them, we use expected values by multiplying the magnitude of potential loss by
the probability of its occurrence (similar with the gain).

 Risk-Benefit Analysis is similar to cost benefit analysis.

6
Personal Risk vs Public Risk
 Personal risk – An individual can decide whether to participate in a
risky activity or not. The difficulty in assessing personal risks is
magnified when we consider involuntary risks. In regard to voluntary
activities, one could possibly make judgments on the basis of the
amount of life insurance a person buys.

 Public risk – These are more easily determined because individual

differences even out as large numbers of people are considered.
Statistical parameters take on greater significance. Assessment
studies for public risk can be conducted relatively easily.

7
Safe Exits
 It is almost impossible to build a completely safe product or one that
will never fail. The best one can do is to ensure that when a product
fails,
• It will fail safely.
• The product can be abandoned / repaired safely.
• The user can safely escape the product.

 It is necessary for the user to have procedures for regular

maintenance and safety checks.

 There should be
• Avenues for employees to report hazardous conditions.
• Emergency procedures.
8
Occupational Safety and Health
 Organizations not only need to reduce the occurrence of accidents,
but aim for zero accidents.

 Everyday, there are over thousands of accidents caused by some

failures of people, equipment, or the surrounding working
environment.

 All these unplanned incidents cause the loss of life, injury or

property damage.

 Most accidents can be traced to poor management policies,

procedures and decision, where the cases are avoidable.

9
Occupational Safety (1)
 Causes of accident can be grouped as
i. Direct: Attributed to equipment failure or unsafe operating
condition or caused by hazardous material.

ii. Indirect: Hidden or not as readily apparent, can be generally

being tied to some human shortcoming or failure. For example,
unsafe act by inattentive or untrained personnel, unsafe
operating condition as the result of inadequate planning, faulty
process design, or poor plant layout.

iii. Root Causes: Poor management practices and inappropriate or

inadequate safety policies and procedures. Future accidents can
be reduced by eliminating potential causes through
investigation.
10
Occupational Safety (2)
 Job safety analysis is used to study the basic procedures of the job,
identify the hazard and prescribe appropriate safety precautions.

 Hazard analysis is a systematic approach to analyze and identify

hazards and further recommend corrective action.

 Engineers are not only involved in designing end products but they
are also responsible in designing a suitable workplace.

11
Occupational Safety & Health In Malaysia
 The Machinery Ordinance 1953 marks the birth of the Machinery Department until
1967.
(http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php/en/about-us/dosh-profile)

 In 1967, with the proclamation of the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (FMA
1967), the Machinery Department expanded to become the Factories and
Machinery Department (FMD),

 With the development of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA
1994), FMD was restructured and transformed into the Department of
Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH).
• DOSH is now the premier government authority responsible for
occupational safety, health and welfare of persons at work, and or other
persons affected by the activities of persons at work.

12
Department of Occupational Safety and Health
(DOSH)
 DOSH is a department under the Ministry of Human Resources.

 It is responsible for ensuring the occupational safety, health and

welfare of people at work as well as protecting other people from
the safety and health hazards arising from the activities of
various sectors which include manufacturing, agriculture, forestry
and fishing, transport, storage and communication, public services
and statutory authorities, utilities, finance, insurance, real estate and
business services.

13
Department of Occupational Safety and Health
(DOSH)
 The principal objectives of DOSH are:
• To draft (legislation) and regularly review via a tripartite process the policies,
laws, codes of practice and guidelines pertaining to occupational safety,
health and welfare as a basis for ensuring safety and health at work

• To ensure, through enforcement and promotion activities, that employers,

self-employed persons, designers, manufacturers or suppliers, importers and
employees always practice a safe and healthy work culture and constantly
comply with the existing laws, codes of practice and guidelines.

• To assist and provide specialist services in promotion activities, training,

information dissemination and research activities organized by government
and non-government agencies, institutions of higher learning, and associations
of employers, employees and/or professionals in the effort to further upgrade
the standard of occupational safety, health and welfare.

14
15