Risk and Safety
The possibility of suffering harm or loss.
What is risk?
A culture where deviance and failure to address risks become normalized, as seen in the NASA Space Shuttle program.
What is a “broken culture of safety”?
An organizational system failure resulting from the complexity and tight coupling of big data technologies.
What is a data accident?
Improperly secured chemical oxygen generators that ignited.
What caused the Valujet Flight 592 accident?
A method used to weigh the risks and benefits of a project, often involving ethical considerations.
What is risk-benefit analysis?
Protecting the health and safety of the public.
What is the primary duty of engineers according to codes of ethics?
Two techniques used to control risk in high-risk organizations.
What are redundancies and checklists?
Characteristics that make systems prone to normal accidents.
What are complex and tightly coupled systems?
What responsibility do engineers have for accidents like Valujet 592?
Ensuring designs and procedures minimize risk.
Compliance with laws, accepted engineering practices, exploring safer alternatives, and foreseeing misuse.
What are the four criteria to ensure a safe design?
A risk that seems safer because individuals knowingly take it on.
What is voluntary risk?
The gradual acceptance of inadequate performance without catastrophic consequences.
What is normalization of deviance?
Privacy violations and unexpected data accidents.
What is the potential outcome of uncontrolled big data?
The normalization of deviance in handling O-ring erosion.
What led to the Challenger explosion?
Accidents caused by design flaws or unexpected material failures.
What are engineered accidents?
Accidents caused by failure to follow established procedures, like "pilot error."
What are procedural accidents?
A principle of high-reliability organizations where constant alertness to potential failure is maintained.
What is "preoccupation with failure"?
Combining multiple datasets to extract insights, often leading to ethical concerns.
What is data aggregation?
What did Dr. Mary L. Cummings argue regarding driverless car regulations?
The federal government should regulate safety standards for autonomous vehicles.
What should engineers do to ensure designs meet safety standards?
Attend conferences, stay updated on best practices, and rigorously test designs.
An accident characteristic of complex systems, where small errors accumulate into a disaster.
What is a systemic accident?
A certification introduced by the US Navy after the loss of the USS Thresher to prevent submarine disasters.
What is SUBSAFE?
Big data often lacks true informed consent, as users are unaware of how their data will be used.
What is the ethical concern over "informed consent" in big data?
What is the importance of testing safety systems in engineering design?
Ensuring all safety measures work as intended to avoid accidents like the Kursk submarine disaster.
A prudent method for minimizing risk by taking time to ensure thorough testing.
What is a “go slow” approach in design?