Design-Based Safety

In 1726, Jonathan Swift wrote a novel about Gulliver’s Travels. The story of Gulliver’s first voyage describes the goals and mindset of the Lilliputians as they attempted to tie down and restrict technical advances known to larger and superior individuals. The story is a satire about how the real world’s progress is hampered by mental lightweights who object to better ways of doing things. Specialists in design-based system safety are vulnerable to “Lilliputians” who are out of touch with technology and engage a biased media in attempting to stop the use of reliable design-based safety.