{"id":36387,"date":"2019-11-26T04:30:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T12:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/?p=36387"},"modified":"2023-01-12T16:51:16","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T00:51:16","slug":"5-ways-to-build-a-safety-first-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamasoftware.com\/legacy\/blog\/2019\/11\/26\/5-ways-to-build-a-safety-first-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Build a Safety-First Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Creating<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s move-fast-get-it-to-market-yesterday product development culture puts a lot of pressure on companies to innovate quickly. Such circumstances can make defined processes and comprehensive documentation look unsexy and uncompetitive\u2026 even when they\u2019re in the best interest of the organization.<\/p>\n

In October, Jama Software and kVA by UL<\/a> co-hosted a kVA Automotive Lunch & Learn at the Hyatt House in Silicon Valley. kVA by UL is a technical and management consulting group focused on functional safety and the ISO 26262 standard<\/a>. Bill Taylor, Managing Director of kVA, spoke to a group made up primarily of automotive industry engineers, many of whom are working on autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n

Taylor presented on the topic of \u201cCreating a Safety-First Culture in Automotive Development,\u201d but the points he made could easily be applied to any complex product development where public and\/or user safety are a primary concern. Here are five key take-aways from Taylor\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Fall for the Smart Folks Fallacy<\/h2>\n

When we get on an airplane, do we trust that our pilot and co-pilot are experienced, well-trained professionals? Do we assume they really know what they’re doing and that they\u2019ve done it many times before?<\/p>\n

Of course, we do. So, why do the airlines \u2014 and the military, and every other aviation employer \u2014make their pilots use checklists?<\/p>\n

Learn how to mitigate common ISO 26262 mistakes with our whitepaper, \u201cTop 15 ISO 26262 Snafus<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s so they don’t have to think about it. The checklist is there so a distraction doesn’t cause the pilot to miss or forget a small but crucial step in their procedure.<\/p>\n

But many who innovate for a living \u2014 especially those who face pressure to innovate rapidly \u2014 don\u2019t like checklists. Checklists feel cumbersome, tedious, slow, and perhaps even antiquated. They\u2019re constraining. They don\u2019t let you work the way you want. Checklists force you to work to their dictates.<\/p>\n

But checklists are great for safety, says Taylor. They force you to take all the prescribed steps.<\/p>\n

Taylor warns against a phenomenon he sees often in the automotive and tech industries, which can roughly be described as the \u201cSmart Folks Fallacy.\u201d He describes it with a fictional conversation, which we\u2019ll paraphrase:<\/p>\n

“Hey, who’s keeping us safe?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ve got some smart folks over there.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Yeah, but how do we know we’re safe? Have we written good requirements? Have we analyzed them? Have we done direct testing? Do we have traceability throughout our process?”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Nah, we haven’t done any of that. But those folks over there are really smart. So, we’ll be fine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, even smart people make mistakes. They\u2019re under pressure to deliver. They get wrapped up in their immediate priorities. Even a smart person might miss something that\u2019s tiny but critical.<\/p>\n

Safety Relies on Process and Culture<\/h2>\n

Taylor says it’s hard to standardize culture. A true safety culture requires more than just following a set of rules, regulations, and standards. But a framework can be articulated.<\/p>\n

In that framework, Taylor would expect to see a set of processes designed to comply with applicable safety standards. He would want to see process documentation that, among other things, describes:<\/p>\n