NASA Imaging for Safety, Science, and History

Author(s):  
Rodney Grubbs ◽  
Walt Lindblom
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Wäfler ◽  
Rahel Gugerli ◽  
Giulio Nisoli

We all aim for safe processes. However, providing safety is a complex endeavour. What is it that makes a process safe? And what is the contribution of humans? It is very common to consider humans a risk factor prone to errors. Therefore, we implement sophisticated safety management systems (SMS) in order to prevent potential "human failure". These SMS provide an impressive increase of safety. In safety science this approach is labelled "Safety-I", and it starts to be questioned because humans do not show failures only. On the contrary, they often actively contribute to safety, sometimes even by deviating from a procedure. This "Safety-II" perspective considers humans to be a "safety factor" as well because of their ability to adjust behaviour to the given situation. However, adaptability requires scope of action and this is where Safety-I and Safety-II contradict each other. While the former restricts freedom of action, the latter requires room for manoeuvring. Thus, the task of integrating the Safety-II perspective into SMS, which are traditionally Safety-I based, is difficult. This challenge was the main objective of our project. We discovered two methods that contribute to the quality of SMS by integrating Safety-II into SMS without jeopardizing the Safety-I approach.


1987 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
B.J. McCaffrey
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Bibi van den Berg ◽  
Ruth Prins ◽  
Sanneke Kuipers

Security and safety are key topics of concern in the globalized and interconnected world. While the terms “safety” and “security” are often used interchangeably in everyday life, in academia, security is mostly studied in the social sciences, while safety is predominantly studied in the natural sciences, engineering, and medicine. However, developments and incidents that negatively affect society increasingly contain both safety and security aspects. Therefore, an integrated perspective on security and safety is beneficial. Such a perspective studies hazardous and harmful events and phenomena in the full breadth of their complexity—including the cause of the event, the target that is harmed, and whether the harm is direct or indirect. This leads to a richer understanding of the nature of incidents and the effects they may have on individuals, collectives, societies, nation-states, and the world at large.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Reynolds ◽  
Carl Westmoreland ◽  
Julia Fentem

New informatics capabilities and computational and mathematical modelling techniques, used in combination with highly sensitive molecular biology and mechanistic chemistry approaches, are transforming the way in which we assess the safety of chemicals and products. In recent years, good progress has been made in replacing some of the animal tests required for regulatory purposes with methods using cells and tissues in vitro. Nevertheless, big scientific challenges remain in developing relevant non-animal models able to predict the effects of chemicals which are absorbed systemically. The greatest breakthroughs in non-animal approaches for chemical safety assessment will most likely result from continued multi-disciplinary research investment in predictive (integrative and systems) biology. Some of our current research in this area is described in the present article.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026119292110408
Author(s):  
Julia Fentem ◽  
Ian Malcomber ◽  
Gavin Maxwell ◽  
Carl Westmoreland

Animal use for testing chemicals under REACH continues to increase, despite advances in non-animal safety science during the past 15 years. The application of modern science and technology, and the use of ‘next generation’ weight-of-evidence assessment approaches, are embedded in EU guidance for establishing the safety of cosmetics and foods – and of the ingredients used in these products. However, this is still not the case for the regulation of chemicals. Under the new Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, thought leaders in human health and environmental protection are calling on the European Commission to quickly embrace the benefits of modern and innovative non-animal safety science, in place of outdated animal testing, if the EU is to be a leader in safe and sustainable innovation under the European Green Deal transformational change ambitions. The European Commission also needs to enable companies to meet their legal obligation to only conduct animal testing as a last resort, by providing a more flexible, science-based and consistent regulatory framework for assuring chemical safety, which supports the integration of data from different sources. We are at a tipping point for closing the gap between regulatory chemicals testing and modern safety science. It is time to join forces, across policy makers, scientists, regulators and lawyers, to lead the paradigm shift needed to deliver what EU citizens want – namely, chemicals and products that are safe and sustainable, without resorting to animal testing.


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