Safety engineering, abbreviated as SAF, also known as safety management or safety science, is a discipline that focuses on ensuring the safety of people, equipment, processes, and environments.  It involves the application of scientific and engineering principles to identify, assess, and control potential hazards and risks in various settings.  The primary goal of safety engineering is to prevent accidents, injuries, and adverse events by designing and implementing effective safety measures and controls.  It encompasses a wide range of industries and sectors, including manufacturing, construction, transportation, healthcare, energy, and more.

• See Article  -  Safety Glossary
• Tags: Safety Engineering Management and Systems Glossary

Safety Index

• Work Place Hazards
• Confined Space Entry
• Safery Engineering Standards

Overall, safety engineering is a multidisciplinary field that combines engineering, science, psychology, and management principles to create safe and secure environments for individuals and society as a whole.

Work Place Hazards

• Biological
  • Animal and bird droppings
  • Bacteria and viruses
  • Blood and other body fluids
  • Fungi/mold
  • Insect bites
  • Plants
• Chemicals
  • Carcinogens
  • Corrosives
  • Gasses
  • Flammable materials
  • Irritants
  • Liquids
  • Mutagens
  • Pesticides
  • Sensitizers
  • Teratogens
  • Vapors
• Ergonomic
  • Frequent lifting
  • Poor posture
  • Vibration
• Physical
  • Awkward movements
  • Burns
  • Constant loud noise
  • Crush injuries
  • Falls
  • Having to use too much force
  • High exposure to sunlight/ultraviolet light
  • Improperlt adjusted workstation and chair
  • Radiation
  • Temperature extremes
• Psychosocial
  • Harassment
• Safety hazard
  • Confined spaces
  • Electrical
  • Fire
  • Forklifts
  • Lockout/tagout
  • Machinery
  • Lack of PPE
  • Lack of training
  • Poor housekeeping
  • Spills
  • Tools
  • Working at height

Confined Space Entry

• Confined space
  • The space is large enough for you to enter and conduct work.
  • The space is not intended for continuous human occupancy.
  • Limited openings for entry and exit.
  • Examples: bins, boilers, ducts, furnaces, hoppers, manholes, pipes, pits, sewers, silos, tanks, trenches, tunnels, vaults
• Potential hazards in confined spaces
  • Combustibles
  • Electricity
  • Mechanical hazards
  • Oxygen deficiency
  • Toxic materials
• Immediately dangers to life or health
  • Any condition which poses an immediate threat to the health of life on an entrant
  • Would cause irreversible adverse health effort
  • Would interfere with an individual's ability to escape unaided from a permit space
• Permit required confined space entry procedure
  • Isolate the space
  • Ventilate the space
  • Conduct tailboard
  • Complete permit
  • Test the atmosphere
  • Enter the space
• Isolate the space from all hazards
  • Close valves
  • Enter the space
  • Lockout/Tagout equipment
  • Clean residue from the space
• Ventilate the space
  • Use mechanical ventilation
  • Ventilate at the rate of at least four volumes per hour
  • Make sure air supply is not contaminated
• Conduct a tailboard briefing
  • Entire crew must attend
  • Review hazards of entry and work
  • Review PPE
  • Review procedure for contacting rescue
  • Complete permit
• Complete entry permit form
  • Permit must be correctly and completely filled out prior to entry
  • Permit must be activated by entry sipervisor's signature to be valid
  • No entry is allowed without  a valid permit
  • Permits are valid for up to 12 hours
  • When work is completed, permit and tailboard form should be returned to safety
  • Canceled permits must be kept on file for at least one year

Safety Engineering Standards

ISO Standards

• ISO 1709 - Nuclear energy -- Fissile materials -- Principles of criticality safety in storing, handling and processing
• ISO 1819 - Continuous mechanical handling equipment -- Safety code -- General rules
• ISO 3165 - Sampling of chemical products for industrial use -- Safety in sampling
• ISO 3265 - Continuous mechanical handling equipment for loose bulk materials -- Wagon tipplers handling rail-borne wagons (rotary, side discharge and end discharge) -- Safety code
• ISO 3691 - Powered industrial trucks -- Safety code
• ISO 5031 - Continuous mechanical handling equipment for loose bulk materials -- Couplings and hose components used in pneumatic handling -- Safety code
• ISO 4126-1 - Safety devices for protection against excessive pressure -- Part 1: Safety valves
• ISO 4126-2 - Safety devices for protection against excessive pressure -- Part 2: Bursting disc safety devices
• ISO 4126-3 - Safety devices for protection against excessive pressure -- Part 3: Safety valves and bursting disc safety devices in combination
• ISO 4126-4 - Safety devices for protection against excessive pressure -- Part 4: Pilot operated safety valves
• ISO 5175 - Equipment used in gas welding, cutting and allied processes -- Safety devices for fuel gases and oxygen or compressed air -- General specifications, requirements and tests
• ISO 5388 - Stationary air compressors -- Safety rules and code of practice
• ISO 10417 - Petroleum and natural gas industries -- Subsurface safety valve systems -- Design, installation, operation and redress
• ISO 16069 - Graphical symbols -- Safety signs -- Safety way guidance systems (SWGS)
• ISO 16708 - Petroleum and natural gas industries -- Pipeline transportation systems -- Reliability-based limit state methods
• ISO 17398 - Safety colours and safety signs -- Classification, performance and durability of safety signs
• ISO 17846 - Welding and allied processes -- Health and safety -- Wordless precautionary labels for equipment and consumables used in arc welding and cutting
• ISO 21789 - Gas turbine applications -- Safety