Passenger Carrying Submersibles: System Safety Analysis

Download or read book Passenger Carrying Submersibles: System Safety Analysis written by and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past few years, several private companies have been using passenger carrying submersibles to conduct underwater sightseeing tours for tourists. For submersible operations under U.S. jurisdiction, the Coast Guard is required by law to establish and enforce a certain minimum level of safety for vessels. The existing Coast Guard statutes and regulations were developed primarily for surface craft; many of the requirements cannot be applied to or are inappropriate for application to submersibles. Furthermore, for passenger carrying submersibles, the complexity and new concepts employed require that the Coast Guard develop methods to adequately evaluate their safety. This report presents the results of the system safety analysis conducted to identify and assess the hazards associated with the operation of passenger carrying submersibles. Included in this analysis is the definition of the submersible system in terms of the basic system elements: equipment and facilities, procedures, people, and the environment in which the submersible system operates. Hazard identification is accomplished through the creation of accident scenarios, the conduct of a Preliminary Hazard Analysis, and the development of Fault Trees. Finally, undesired events resulting from the hazards are assessed for event severity and the probability of event occurrence. General countermeasures to mitigate the undesired events are presented and the factors to be considered in the evaluation of the countermeasures are delineated. Keywords: Submersible safety; System safety; Passenger carrying submersibles; Submarines; Submersible hazards; Passenger submarines; Underwater tour safety. (SDW).