Surf's up: Safety through caution

THERE is an abundance of Web resources that delineate safety measures, debunk failure misconceptions, describe collaborative hazard reduction efforts, interpret diagnostic forensics, and advance best practices for thwarting fiascos. In addition to academic and government sites, there are private firms that have compiled noteworthy collections of open access research reports, technical manuals, and pragmatic engineering information. These digital libraries share many different document types including articles, book chapters, case studies, essays, images, reports, strategic plans, and theses. Many concentrate on present, past, and potential industrial accident scenarios. These serve to acquaint site visitors to mishaps that are possible when certain products, procedures, or processes are selected. They provide recommendations for accident avoidance and alert engineers, managers, and workers about the kinds of advanced training necessary for designing and operating devices associated with potentially hazardous systems. The following sites serve as examples of resources that promote precautionary steps to reduce failures.