I agree with John T. The world's companies are a mixed bag of safety cultures. I've had the opportunity to work with some great companies in which safety is priority, always taking the high road. In these companies the culture started at the top. Even had the CEO for one of them often sit in our safety meetings. Of course these companies are all about brand name protection, but regardless, safety is a priority. Unfortunately I've also seen the polar opposite. Just had the "Chief Technical Officer" of a client hand me an interconnecting cord for under cabinet lighting with male terminals on both ends. When I rolled my eyes at him, he asked what the problem was. Even after I asked him to hold one end while I plug in the other, he asked if there were any NRTL's that would accept it.
We have a tough job as compliance engineers if the client, or boss, does not make safety a priority. Often it's like talking to the wall. But we keep doing our part so we can sleep at night. I know ANSI and others have a group reaching out to CEO's to try to get safety built into company cultures. And showing them why it makes financial sense to do so. Joe Bhatia from ANSI spoke at a past ISPCE symposium about it. If your company does not have safety as a priority, maybe reach out to Mr. Bhatia and have him send your boss some information. The 2015 ISPCE also has a new track called Compliance 101. The idea is to help designers and "newbies" to compliance understand the general requirements so they can build safety into the design, as they're designing. Some of the presentations can be a great way to show your boss the basics, even if it falls on deaf ears. And maybe with these activities, along with HBSE and Risk Assessments being incorporated into our Standards, there will be a day when safety takes priority for everyone. On Mar 7, 2015, at 3:56 PM, John Allen <john_e_al...@blueyonder.co.uk<mailto:john_e_al...@blueyonder.co.uk>> wrote: John T Your last line is what, I think, most of us have said or implied! So what do the rest of the “viewers” think, and where do you think the “world” is globally? John Allen W.London, UK From: Tyra, John [mailto:john_t...@bose.com] Sent: 07 March 2015 21:35 To: EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG<mailto:EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG> Subject: Re: [PSES] Safety standards versus safety engineering With all due respect I think this is a generalization as when I worked at TUV I assisted companies who were very safety conscience and it came down from the top. I am also lucky to currently work for a company where the upper management is very supportive of product safety. That being said I also worked with companies when at TUV who wanted to do the minimum and in some cases argued against compliance with the standards or who I felt tried to hide noncompliance’s from me. IMHO it really depends on the company and the culture of that company. From: Richard Nute [mailto:ri...@ieee.org] Sent: Friday, March 06, 2015 6:16 PM To: EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG<mailto:EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG> Subject: Re: [PSES] Safety standards versus safety engineering I disagree. The decision-makers leave the safety as well as the specific design to the experts. The decision-makers look at the bigger picture as to the features of the product, how it fits into the product mix, and other high-level stuff. They don’t engage in the specific design and they don’t engage in the safety aspects. Trying to raise safety to a decision-maker level is futile, and expecting them to champion safety is also futile. Safety and EMC are things that must be applied to a product. The decision-makers know and expect that. The only thing that matters is if either causes a schedule delay. Best regards, Rich From: John Allen [mailto:john_e_al...@blueyonder.co.uk] Sent: Friday, March 06, 2015 1:50 PM To: EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG<mailto:EMC-PSTC@LISTSERV.IEEE.ORG> Subject: Re: [PSES] Safety standards versus safety engineering And not so cordially either! From: John Allen [mailto:john_e_al...@blueyonder.co.uk] Sent: 06 March 2015 21:47 To: 'Bonsen, Robert' Subject: RE: [PSES] Safety standards versus safety engineering Robert You have obviously “been there”! I sympathise, completely – I have too! John Allen W. London, UK From: Bonsen, Robert [mailto:robert.bon...@hp.com] Sent: 06 March 2015 21:21 To: John Allen Subject: RE: [PSES] Safety standards versus safety engineering Good points, all, especially this one. Those not involved with larger companies often miss that safety is only a part of the bigger picture, unfortunately. Thus, the decision makers are rarely sufficiently educated, experienced or even interested in championing safety. That is left to the guys at the bottom, who, when accused of making pro-safety calls against bigger business goals, are typically cordially invited to find employ elsewhere. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <emc-p...@ieee.org> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <sdoug...@ieee.org> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org> David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>
