Where shall the failure of a safety feature be located?

The failure of a safety feature is ideally positioned downstream. This is because when a safety mechanism fails downstream, it means that any potential hazards or risks can be contained or managed effectively without endangering the personnel or other critical operations upstream. By locating the failure downstream, the design ensures that it does not compromise the core functionality or safety of systems that are critical to overall operations.

In designing safety systems, the goal is to minimize risk to individuals and equipment, ensuring that a failure point does not introduce additional dangers. Therefore, a downstream failure allows for a controlled scenario, where other safety measures can still function and mitigate potential harm. It's an integral aspect of safety engineering to position failure points strategically to safeguard against unexpected events. This is a critical concept in maintaining operational integrity and safety in various industrial applications.