(Dept. of Systems Engineering, Ajou University)
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In this paper we discuss the problems related with the existing electrical safety system that is influenced by all the socio-technical factors including the electrical safety law, government organizations, and their practicing rules and regulations. Sometimes intangible practices also affect the safety issues. It is our intention to incorporate all those factors effectively and systematically in improving the electrical safety system. Since, the problem in nature is so complex, an approach based on the systems engineering (SE) method could be a good candidate. Specifically, as a first step of the SE process we performed the requirements analysis of all the factors mentioned above and some recommendations from the experts in the field. In the work environment utilizing a computer-aided SE tool, the requirements are verified and managed efficiently although the data base is complicated in general in tracking the changes. Next, by analyzing the verified requirements, a functional architecture is developed to achieve an improved electrical safety system. We also did the reverse engineering of the existing electrical safety system to explore potential problems there. The result can also help improve the existing one. Overall, a systematic approach to constructing electrical safety system based on SE is proposed for the first time in this paper. Note that the method described here can be adopted in the study of other safety systems.