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What are those special skills that make
the system safety professional unique? Or rather, not unique?
And more importantly, are those skills transportable to other
professions, disciplines and industries? I have been asking
myself these questions lately. Given a clear definition of
how our skills could be applied to other fields, or how other
fields could benefit from exposure to our world of system
safety, we can expand the marketability of our members, as
well as the System Safety Society.
A couple of years ago, as Director of Conferences, I sensed
an opportunity for the newly critical field of security analysis
to become a major technical track at our conferences. We have
had some award-winning presentations since then, but it certainly
hasn't taken off like I would have hoped. Why should we care?
By identifying those fields where system safety principles
might excel, the Society provides a valuable service to its
members: opportunities for meaningful employment.
The Society was started based on a need to satisfy system
safety professionals employed in defense-related industries.
To this day, that has remained our principal constituency.
Of course, we have diversified over the years. Aerospace,
chemical, energy and transportation are well represented within
the Society's membership. My perception is, however, that
most of our membership can trace its paycheck back to a government
contract or employer. If this is true, then we have a huge
opportunity to attract the skills and experience of persons
from the commercial world. We have made some inroads, particularly
in academia and computer systems, but have only scratched
the surface.
Who else could benefit from our skills? Who else already does?
I would like to hear from you, particularly if you work in
an industry that does not traditionally employ system safety
engineers.
— Paul Kryska, President, Paul.Kryska@novellus.com
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