Basics of Risk
What does "risk" mean in engineering?
The chance that some (or multiple) elements of a system goes wrong.
What do checklists help engineers and doctors do?
Avoid mistakes
Which United States nuclear plant had an accident in 1979?
Three Mile Island
What kind of cars drive themselves?
Autonomous or self-driving cars.
Who decides if something is “safe enough?”
Society (government, engineers, public).
Who has to think about safety when designing technology?
Engineers
What Navy program was created after the USS Thresher sank?
SUBSAFE
Which nuclear disaster in 1986 happened in the Soviet Union?
Chernobyl
What’s one benefit of self-driving cars?
Possible answers: Fewer accidents, more calculated driving, increased road safety, reduced congestion.
Who must explain risks to the public?
Engineers
What kind of risk do people choose to take?
Voluntary risk
What is it called when unsafe practices slowly become “normal?"
Normalization of deviance
What disaster in Japan in 2011 was caused by a tsunami?
Fukushima
What is one risk of self-driving cars?
Possible answers: Hacking, technology malfunctions, lack of trust, user error (why we need failsafes), unemployment in transportation sector, adhering to policy, privacy.
What builds trust between engineers and the public?
Possible answers: transparency, honesty, accountablity.
What do we call risks people do not choose, like pollution?
Involuntary risk
NASA lost what in 1986 due to ignored warnings?
Which car became famous for being unsafe in rear-end crashes?
Ford Pinto
What do self-driving cars still have trouble with?
Possible answers: Bad weather, unusual traffic patterns, unpredictable behaviors by non-autonomous vehicles.
What is an example of voluntary risk?
Possible answers: Any decision made by a human with a possible tradeoff
What theory says accidents in very complex systems are unavoidable?
Normal accident theory.
What do High Reliability Organizations try very hard to avoid?
Failure
What killed the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger?
O-ring failure in the rocket boosters
Who do we need to trust for self-driving cars to work well?
Engineers and the public
What is an example of involuntary risk?
Possible answers: Pollution, radiation, natural disasters.