The Ingenieur Vol 59 July-Sept 2014 The Ingenieur Vo. 59, July-Sept 2014 | Page 17

‟

Unlike the fairy tale Rumplestiltskin, do not
think that by having named the devil that
you have destroyed him. Positive verification
of his demise is required.

Verification of Safety
“Unlike the fairy tale Rumplestiltskin, do not think
that by having named the devil that you have
destroyed him. Positive verification of his demise is
required”.
Source: System Safety Handbook for the
Acquisition Manager, U.S. Air Force
Through safe engineering the test plans and
recommended actions on products must be
reviewed at regular intervals based on hazard
and risk analyses, regulations, safety standards,
inspection checklists, previous failures and
incidents, and interface analyses. The safety effort
should specify the detailed conditions under which
tests are to be conducted. The engineers should
review test results for any safety-related problems
that were missed out in earlier analyses or other
testing and monitor tests for unexpected failure
modes and hazardous states.

Documentation
One of the important steps in safe engineering
practice is to collect, compile and manage all the
prepared technical materials including sources
of information, codes, standards, drawings,
references, method statements and assumptions
for the products. As this information may be reviewed
by many different persons or parties from various
backgrounds and disciplines, its organisation
should be accessible and understandable by
all. The key to this information organisation and
management is simplicity to allow for timely and
effective dissemination of correct and updated
information and facilitating communication during
meetings and conduct of site trainings.

REPORTED FAILURE AND
INCIDENT CASES
Finally, this technical paper emphasizes the
importance of documented forensic engineering
investigations on failure and incident cases.
Lessons learnt from such investigations provide
an invaluable resource for the designer, engineer,
operator, contractor, and others to improve
engineered products by reducing risk or eliminating
hazards or risks.

Failure of engineering and
construction structures
In recent years there have been number of high
profile engineering and construction failures such
as the collapse of false work structure for the Batu
Maung interchange work for the Penang Second
Bridge project (Photo 1.0), collapse of the West
Wing of the Sultan Mizan Stadium, Trengganu during
the demolition of the space frame structures,
collapse of hypermarket’s floor slab temporary
support structures during concreting work in Johor,
and others.
Similar cases can be avoided or prevented
from happening again by having engineers who have
been appointed for the mega-project construction
work to prepare and undertake first the hazard and
risk evaluation for the product. The preparation of
amended construction or workshop drawings with
complete supporting calculations, and method
statements should highlight the outcomes from
the hazard and risk analysis report. The client will
then have an Independent Consultant to undertake
thorough checks on the proposal. Engineering
drawings of the products will also be scrutinized
and proper care taken to ensure that checks

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