Safety is an emergent property of a system, dependent on how a system behaves when used, and sustained, in a specific way in a specific environment. Safety management, therefore, should be an integral part of the systems engineering process.

Unfortunately, this is not, universally, the case. Specifically,
• In some highly regulated environments (such as rail, aerospace or medical devices) the safety management process can be an additional layer of process on top of the systems engineering process. This can increase time to market, increase costs and potentially reduce the overall safety of deployed systems.
• In some organizations and sectors, safety management practice lags behind systems engineering practice. The level of effectiveness of safety management practice varies across different sectors and countries.
• Different organizations at different positions in the supply chain can have different perspectives on safety management that can have significant impact on safety, cost and effectiveness.

Increased complexity, driven by increased use of software and automation, systems-of-systems, internet of things, closed loop control and ‘inexpert operators’ is making the safety management challenge harder. In some cases, unsafe systems may be being deployed; in others the inability to demonstrate that systems are safe are limiting the deployment of new types of system