IMechE safety engineering guide promises to lower working risk
22 Sep 2021
A new guide from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (ImechE) aims to update safety guidance for engineers on how to reduce risks to as low as reasonably practicable.
Written by the institution’s Safety & Reliability Group, it addresses the increased gap between courts’ and regulators’ approaches towards the calculation of risk.
Keith Miller, lead author of the report, said:
“The Safety & Reliability Group recognised that developments in both safety engineering and the law had rendered much of the existing guidance obsolete, even to the extent that it would be inadmissible in court.
The time had come to combine the lessons from different industries and produce a more objective, scientific, and systematic process that would be legally admissible and convincing, he added.
“The document debunks some myths and unsound practices and provides practical alternatives, which are backed up by plenty of examples,” insisted Miller.
The project involved contributions from legal firms, regulators, consultants, statisticians, academics, plus other engineering institutions.
