There are so many ways to define and express Safe!
Much of this is contained in product development tiers where, depending on the product and industry, there can be up to ten tiers of safety testing and analysis. Because of the inherent risk to people and subsequent liabilities, industries like automotive, aviation, pharmaceuticals and healthcare will insist on up to ten years of testing before certifying or applying for state certification that a product is fit for the market.
All the certificate logos you see on products, from EC to ATEX, IECEX, ISO etc, are given only to products that have gone through this rigorous certification process. They are the ‘shortcode’ that tells you a product is intrinsically safe, and that manufacturer follows methodologies to ensure it stays that way.
Safety Engineering
An engineering discipline which assures that engineered systems provide acceptable levels of safety. It is strongly related to industrial engineering and systems engineering. Safety engineering assures that life-critical systems behave as needed, even when components fail.
Safety Analysis
This is a key element in R&D, product testing and in eventual roll-out. There is even an appropriate acronym for this: the Safety Analysis Function Evaluation (SAFE) chart. Clearly this varies from product to product.
This is especially relevant to end-user operation: nothing bad will/should have if used incorrectly (within reason) or if the product fails for some reason.
Technology and Data Safety
Digital security is increasingly important. Whether the data are product related, usage related or personal, data are valuable and must be protected. The constant drumbeat of data breaches can only have a negative impact on consumers and on the greater digital market.
Security comes into play at many levels: from the initial design and architecture of a data platform and firewalls; its implementation, access rights and security codes; who gets to see what, when, where and how; and the use of special software to detect and block potential breaches from viruses, trojans etc.
We rely on technology and data safety at four points:
when being generated by our devices, when being transmitted to our (or your) data servers; when in our data repository (if in yours, then safety passes to you); and when we deliver to the end-user.
- When generated by the device, safety comes from [please fill in here].
- When transmitted to data servers, safety comes from [please fill in here].
- When in our data repository, right now we rely on all the tools Microsoft Azure offers us.
- When delivered to the end user [please fill in here].
We will add an extra layer of cybersecurity when we come to rollout our own data subscription services; we know who to speak to about that.
Further reading:
https://www.mondodigitale.org/en/news/trusting-safe-technology
https://www.sjsu.edu/it/security/cybersecurity/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_engineering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_of_safety
https://eea.org.au/insights-articles/safe-engineering-design-goes-beyond-avoiding-catastrophic-disasters