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National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

DATE

NASA STEM

NASA Student Launch ARW 

Safety in Reports

PRESENTED BY NASA Student Launch

DATE July 23, 2024
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Identify Safety Officer and their 

Roles

Facilities and Safety

Personal Protective Equipment

Procedures and Checklists

Formal Hazard Analysis

Overview

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Student member of the team

• Not a parent

• Not a mentor

Identify their responsibilities

• Reasonable, no one person can 

“Ensure the safety of the team”

• Manage SDS, Hazard Analysis, 

Procedures and PPE

• Review Rocket and Payload designs 

with a “Safety Lens”

Safety Officer

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What safety rules do your machine shops, 

laboratories, and test areas have?

How are they enforced?

What safety equipment is available?

Facilities

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Let us know what you have, and what is required.

When is it to be used?

What reminds your team members to use them?

What happens if they don’t?

Personal Protective Equipment

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Procedures

Step-by-step instructions for things like: Assembly of the 

Rocket/Payload, Setup on Launch Pad, Launching, Retrieving 

the Rocket

Often requires multiple people to “sign off,” helping ensure 

nothing is skipped or omitted

Procedures and Checklists

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Hazard Analysis: an organized method of identifying, 

tracking, and mitigating hazardous conditions that can 

occur during a project or program.

3 main parts to a hazard analysis: 

1. Description of Hazard

2. Identify controls and mitigations

3. Verification

Hazards Analysis

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Hazardous Condition Cause

Exposure to toxic fumes due to working with epoxy resins results in respiratory injury, allergic reaction 

and/or asphyxiation.

Effect

This identifies the hazard uniquely. There are many hazards in a project, so it is important to be able to 

describe them well and understand their implications.

The Hazard Description consists of 3 main parts:

1. Hazardous Condition – The source of injury, loss, or failure

2. Cause – How the Hazardous Condition occurs

3. Effect – The result if the Hazardous Condition occurs

Hazards Analysis – Hazard Description

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Controls can approach the hazard in two ways.

• Reduce the likelihood that a hazard will occur

• Reduce how severe the hazard will be if it does occur

The preferred hierarchy of controls is:

• Design – Alter the design of your system such that the hazard no longer exists.

Ex: Replace Epoxy with a non-volatile adhesive or bonding method

• Guards/barriers – Equipment in the system which prevents the hazard from occurring.

Ex: Oxygen monitors which alert users if the O2 in the air becomes too low.

• Personal Protective Equipment – Worn equipment that protects the individual from the hazard.

Ex: Respirators or other breathing apparatus

• Procedures – Rules and steps to follow that, if followed correctly, will prevent the hazard.

Ex: Shop rules requiring the ventilation fan be turned on when using Epoxy.

Hazards Analysis – Controls and Mitigation 

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Verifications are how you ensure that the 

controls you describe will work or be used.

Examples include:

• Checklists with sign offs from multiple 

persons

• Testing done to prove that a design is robust 

and does not fail

• Documented inspection of equipment, tools, 

etc.

• Analysis and modeling (especially important 

early on in model rocketry)

Hazards Analysis - Verifications

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Questions?
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