In the first installment of this blog series, we delved into the Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA) process, a crucial first step in our journey of creating a comprehensive safety system for home automation. We examined the hazards that could compromise our home’s safety and assessed the level of threat posed by each one. Now, let’s take a step forward and explore how we turn these assessments into actionable safety goals and how these goals guide our risk mitigation strategies.

Safety Goals - Our Guiding Star

Based on our hazard identification and risk assessment, we’ve established specific safety goals for each identified risk. These goals serve as our guiding light, helping us navigate the challenges of home automation safety. Here’s how we address some of the significant risks we’ve identified:

Unauthorized Access

  • The system will continuously monitor for unauthorized access, alerting occupants and predefined security companies in case of a breach.
  • It will persistently check the status of external doors and windows, ensuring they are locked and closed when the house is unoccupied or during sleep hours.

System Failure

  • Our system will consistently monitor the activity of all components, detecting failures and performing regular self-checks to alert users about potential issues.
  • In the event of a power outage, a backup power supply ensures continuous operation.

Unsafe Cold/Heat Exposure

  • The system will alert occupants when room temperatures fall below or rise above safe levels.
  • It will automatically interface with the home heating and cooling systems to maintain comfortable and safe environments.

For a more comprehensive list of safety goals for each identified hazard, refer to our repository.

Risk Evaluation - A Crucial Judgment

The risk evaluation stage involves comparing risk levels from our risk assessment with predefined risk acceptance criteria. These criteria can vary based on legal requirements, industry standards, or stakeholders’ risk tolerance. For instance:

  • Level 1 Risks: High severity, high exposure, and low controllability. These risks are our top priority and should be mitigated immediately before we proceed with implementation.
  • High Severity Risks: Risks causing significant harm are next in line for mitigation, regardless of their exposure or controllability.
  • Low Controllability Risks: These risks that are hard for occupants to manage require effective mitigation strategies to prevent potential harm.

Risk Mitigation - The Battle Plan

Once we’ve evaluated the risks, it’s time to plan our mitigation strategies. The measures include:

  • Mitigation: Reduce the likelihood or impact of the risk.
  • Acceptance: Acknowledge the risk and prepare contingency plans.
  • Avoidance: Change plans to avoid the risk.
  • Transfer: Shift the risk to another party, like buying insurance.

Mitigation in Action: Post-Implementation Risk Assessment

Let’s see how our safety goals have influenced the risk scores of some of our key hazards:

For a comprehensive understanding of the post-implementation risk assessment scores for the identified hazards, refer to the table available in our repository document.

This table in our repository illustrates the significant role safety goals play in lowering risk scores and hence the threat level of each hazard. For more detailed information and precise numerical calculations, please refer to the associated documents in our repository.

Risk Monitoring - The Watchtower in Progress

We have now reached the risk monitoring phase, a step that is a work in progress and is never truly complete. After implementing our mitigation measures, our task is to vigilantly monitor the effectiveness of our efforts and to identify any new hazards that may unexpectedly emerge.

Risk monitoring is a continuous process and plays a critical role in keeping us one step ahead of potential risks. By constantly keeping an eye on this watchtower, we can assure the safety of our homes, making them not just smarter, but also safer.

This chapter of our safety journey is ongoing. Stay tuned for our next post, where we will dive deeper into the system requirements that implement these safety goals. We’ll also define our system in more detail, exploring the various strategies and measures that we use to ensure our home automation system remains a safe haven.

Remember, building a safer, smarter home is an ongoing effort, and we’re excited to have you join us on this journey.