All, Over the past several years, nearly all safety standards have incorporated Risk Assessment (RA) as a part of their requirements. I did an informal search and found that the assessment methods are used in a wide range of disciplines from electrical products to machinery, robotics, safety software controls, medical equipment, medical procedures, automotive, aerospace, traffic control and even tree removal in municipalities. It is very clear that safety professionals worldwide really do like this method and I think it lends a certain comfort to a safety engineer's angst in marginal situations. I probably shouldn't say it but in my personal opinion this is a huge CYA exercise (cover your anatomy) for all involved.
Usually the product RA goes before construction review, testing and certification. It is often used to identify areas not covered well by the body of the standard and where additional testing may be required. Virtually all standards describing the use of RA mention the scheme found in FMEA/FMECA of identifying a tasks, operations, or events and assigning numerical values to the parameters of interest, followed by the product of these values to identify level of risk. Commonly these parameters are severity, frequency of exposure, and possibility of avoidance. Today the use of FMEA goes far beyond design, manufacturing, and processes. Often times, a particular standard will say something like "*documents that can be used as guidance for the safety analysis include...*" followed by a short list of standards from IEC, EN, ISO, ANSI, MIL STD and so on. Notable to me is the use of the word "can" or "may" which implies the user has some leeway in selecting which document they prefer. Additionally, further guidance is often given for "active" protection devices and software/firmware controls for safety function (i.e. safety integrity levels and performance levels). Once again, using the methodology of FMEA as a way of assigning risk levels. So after all that, here is my question. Given wide-ranging product types and use models, the long list of risk assessment standards, has anyone produced a comprehensive list or matrix correlating products to applicable standards? I believe a list such as this would be very helpful. Stay safe and stay frosty all, Doug -- Douglas E Powell Laporte, Colorado USA [email protected] http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougp01 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
