Concept of Safety

1.  “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for” – John A. Shedd

2.  ‘A thing is safe if its risks are judged to be acceptable’ - William W. Lawrence

We buy an ill-designed Iron box in a sale-> Underestimating risk

We judge fluoride in water can kill lots of people -> Overestimating risk

We hire a taxi, without thinking about its safety -> Not estimating risk

How does a judge pass a judgement on safety in these 3 cases?

….So, this definition won't do in real life.

Then, what is acceptable also depends upon the individual or group’s value judgment. Hence a better, working definition of concept of safety could be,

“A thing is safe (to a certain degree) with respect to a given person or group at a given time if, were they fully aware of its risks and expressing their most settled values, they would judge those risks to be acceptable (to that certain degree).”  -Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger

A thing is NOT SAFE if it exposes us to unacceptable danger or hazard

RISK is the potential that something unwanted and harmful may occur.

a.  We take a risk when we undertake something or use a product that is not safe. Risk in technology could include dangers of

b.    bodily harm,

c.    economic loss, or

d.    environmental degradation.

Some may assume that “safety” is a concrete concept, while “risk” is a vague, hypothetical concept

In fact, its the other way around

Risks always exist. But true safety never exists, except in hypothetical situations

So, risk is reality, safety is fantasy