Evaluating safety programs by extending the Zwicky approach

Security and safety, in a variety of situations, are related in terms of content and also share analysis methods. One such system-level method is Zwicky´s morphological approach which is especially helpful when a problem area is being addressed from several perspectives. This paper reports upon the explicit mapping of general management functions against safety-related matters, leading to two tables with 65 and 70 cells, respectively. These cells represent discrete areas which may then be formally evaluated in order to assess the overall management control of a safety program. For each of the resulting 135 cells, a set of specific questions was formulated. The answers lead to a numeric score reflecting the degree to which each management function is being appropriately executed. In the aggregate, an overall measure is obtained of the extent to which the totality of management functions deal with all safety-related matters.