Elevating Project Success Through Functional Safety Management
Richard Kelly CFSE
Functional Safety Consultant | Helping Engineering Leaders to Deliver Nuclear Safety System Projects | Optimise Designs, Streamline Design Reviews, and Win Bids—Even at Higher Prices.
Picture this: you’ve secured a Functional Safety Engineer for your project’s design phase. You think you’ve got all bases covered. But have you?
Not quite.
Yes, a skilled Functional Safety Engineer is invaluable – but they’re only one piece of a much larger puzzle. They’re often swamped with technical intricacies, racing against the clock to stick to project timelines while addressing an avalanche of design review comments. And the result of this whirlwind of responsibilities and client demands? A lot of things you don’t want to see.
All this stems from a lack of comprehensive management in functional safety, and it all finds its way to you. You end up in meeting after meeting with the client, feeling exposed because you don’t have the right expertise to deal with the root cause.
Functional safety isn’t just about the technical design
It’s a distinct discipline that demands engagement at every project stage, from tendering and scheduling to management meetings and resource allocation, all the way to threat reporting and seizing opportunities. Overlooking these elements is a telltale sign that your project is steaming ahead without the full spectrum of functional safety expertise it critically needs.
Nuclear Safety Instrumented System (SIS) design projects are notoriously complex and expensive, and for engineering leaders, the stakes couldn’t be higher. So why are they so often entrusted to a single overwhelmed engineer? Effective management of functional safety design isn’t just advisable; it’s imperative to sidestep the potential financial pitfalls so often underestimated in nuclear projects.
Enter proactive functional safety management. This is a strategy to help you…
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Picture it as a vigilant guardian, ensuring every team member knows what they’re responsible for and the procedures they should follow. This approach doesn’t just smooth the path to project delivery; it enhances communication with clients, bolsters collaboration, transparency and accountability, and ensures your projects remain on schedule and within budget.
Implementing a functional safety management strategy entails an upfront investment, but the long-term payoff in avoiding costly errors and ensuring timely, on-budget project completion is undeniable. You’re likely already providing elements of this service – so why not get paid for it and safeguard your projects fully?
Why you need a Functional Safety Manager
We can all agree that a functional safety design engineer’s expertise is crucial. But have you thought about the huge impact of complementing their role with a Functional Safety Manager? This role is pivotal in early error detection, ensuring mistakes remain paper-based rather than huge financial burdens on site.
Securing a seasoned nuclear functional safety expert might seem daunting, akin to finding a needle in a haystack. It’s a rare skill set, and a full-time hire, so it’s understandable to feel concerned about it. However, the invaluable insights and resilience these experts bring to the table – expertly navigating high-pressure situations and staunchly defending against scope creep – cannot be overstated.
A while ago, I worked with a chief engineer – let’s call him John – on a Functional Safety Assessment (FSA) for a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) nearing commissioning. Shockingly, no prior FSA had been conducted. John, lacking a background in Functional Safety, had overly relied on his engineer, mistakenly believing a thorough design review would be enough.
It’s an issue I see all too frequently. So often, projects progress beyond the design phase without continuous functional safety oversight, leading to incomplete documentation and, ultimately, non-compliant installations.
Explaining this to John, I likened skipping functional safety management to neglecting a quality management system entirely: a surefire path to a defective product requiring extensive rework. The FSA was needed to deliver a compliant safety system, which meant John’s team would need to produce the documentation and re-inspect the installation, resulting in significant delays and extensive rework.
The realisation that they’d missed a critical step weighed heavily on John. The project was already behind schedule, and now he had to explain the delay to his client. The thought of potentially facing financial penalties and damaging his reputation was almost too much to bear. So, we sprang into action.
Producing a Functional Safety Management Plan (FSMP) was our first priority. The plan outlined every process and the necessary documentation, and we appointed accountable, competent individuals for each lifecycle phase. This proactive step highlighted team gaps and enabled John to manage his team adeptly to address these deficiencies.
Fortunately, we identified these issues before commissioning, preventing a much more expensive outcome. Proper functional safety management was instrumental in realigning the project and ensuring compliance.
John later admitted that the whole ordeal had been a wake-up call. Had he not taken the proactive step of developing a comprehensive FSMP, the project could have faced severe financial consequences – potentially including shutdown orders, client penalties and lasting damage to the company’s reputation. Instead, the FSMP allowed his team to identify and address the risks early, realigning the project and ensuring successful, compliant delivery.
John also told me that the addition of the FSMP and Functional Safety Manager gave him and his team the peace of mind to focus on their work confidently, knowing that safety and compliance were assured. This saved time and energy that he could better spend on advancing the project. I explained that, whilst I was happy, I could come in at the eleventh hour and help out; but that if he had the right expertise to manage functional safety properly, he wouldn’t need me at all.
Share your thoughts in the comments! Let's discuss how your company can enhance profits and reputation through effective functional safety management. Your insights could shape the future of safety practices in our industry. What's your take on pre-tender FSAs?