ABSTRACT
Following a series of fatal accidents (Piper Alpha in 1986 and Clapham Junction in 1988), the UK put in place new legislation concerning safety. This legislation, which is based on the precept that it is an operator’s responsibility to demonstrate that their activities are safe enough rather than the approach of complying with a detailed prescriptive set of requirements, represented a fundamental change in industrial safety practices. The acceptable safety of a system can be argued based on the claim that it has been developed to the current “best practice” in safety engineering. Best practice is typically seen as embodied in the most recent safety standards and guidelines. One of the most significant safety standards for electronic systems and software is IEC 61508, which specifies requirements for the functional safety of safety-related electrical/electronic and programmable electronic systems. The standard is generic, in that it applies to a range of industries and different safety applications and is applied in many countries. In this chapter, we will briefly examine some of the key regulations and events in British history that have led to the development of the safe argument and safety case.
