safety engineering

safety engineering, study of the causes and prevention of accidental deaths and injuries. The field of safety engineering has not developed as a unified, specific discipline, and its practitioners have operated under a wide variety of position titles, job descriptions, responsibilities, and reporting levels in industry and in the loss-prevention activities of insurance companies. The general areas that have been identified as the major functions carried out by the professional safety engineer or safety professional are: the identification and appraisal of accident-producing conditions and practices and the evaluation of the severity of the accident problem; the development of accident and loss-control methods, procedures, and programs; the communication of accident and loss-control information to those directly involved; and the measurement and evaluation of the accident and loss-control systems and the modifications that are required to obtain optimum results.

The most recent trends in safety engineering include increased emphasis on prevention by the anticipation of hazard potentials; changing legal concepts with regard to product liability and negligent design or manufacture, as well as the developing emphasis on consumer protection; and the development of national and international legislation and controls, not only in the areas of transportation safety, product safety, and consumer protection but also in occupational health and environmental control.