The policy attempts to steer a responsible course between the need to alert society to the increasing risks from poorly-developed SRCS, and the need to avoid creating irrational panic. We would welcome constructive criticism of this policy from Risks readers. The complete text of the policy statement is given below. In almost every case, the potential for injury lies in the system which the SRCS is controlling or monitoring. Assuring the safety of the total system therefore involves several branches of engineering, depending on the application.
Most industries are justifiably proud of their safety records.
The safety of a system is a system-wide issue, and the safety of a SRCS cannot usefully be considered in isolation from the total system of which it forms part. The developer therefore has to identify the level of adequate safety and to develop all the subsystems so that this level is achieved overall. The probability of error in a system increases with increasing complexity. SRCS should be designed so that their complexity is kept to a minimum, and so that they are isolated from interference from non safety-related subsystems. 5 SRCS should be developed and supported by suitably-qualified staff.