I would argue that we need to understand math or science no less than other engineering disciplines. Not one bit less. There's a common product safety thread through many engineering disciplines that the truly professional product safety person needs to understand every bit as much as an EMC engineer needs to understand Fourier analysis. Product safety is also a dynamic web of semantic and legal subjectivity that will probably not be stable any time soon. Engineers functioning as professionals need a working knowledge both at a general level and at an in-depth level as the issues relate to their specific job.
Product safety is multidisciplinary in complex, interrelated ways.
I am confident that IF there were a Product Safety IEEE Society, we would draw engineers from many engineering disciplines. We could provide support for the engineering community in education and technical assistance. We could help with global safety issues. We could also be more proactive as global safety concerns evolve into more cohesive concerns for environmental well being. Furthermore, by being better organized, we can assist in minimizing the impact the political implications of the global economy.