Create Date: September 26, 2024
Last Modified Date: December 6, 2024
Factor of safety is an important metric as it relates to safety. Calculating it can be done with the following variables:
Your result will be a single number. This number represents the factor of safety of the structure or project you are working on. In certain work environments, the factor of safety needs to be greater than a certain number. Generally speaking, the higher the number the better safety rating it has.
Using our factor of safety tool is very simple and easy. You can get your results in under a minute. The steps involved with using this tool include:
We are working on a shed in our backyard. We need to make sure that it is safe enough for people that may be going into it. The maximum strength of the structure is 10,250 pounds-force and the design load is 1,750 pounds-force. We can use this tool to help us get the factor of safety by entering 10,250 into the maximum strength, then by entering 1,750 into the design load. We can now hit calculate and get a factor of safety of 5.86.
A factor of safety of 1.5 means the system is made to withstand 1.5 times the required load, meaning it is relatively safe. Ensure this number is acceptable for your industry and project before assuming it is good enough.
A safety factor of 4 means the system can hold 4 times its maximum load, which can be seen as very safe in certain applications of the metric.
A safety factor below 1, like 0.5, means the system will fail as it does not have the ability to hold the possible load, it can only hold at most half of it.
Acceptable safety factors vary by application. A building or structure will not have the same requirements as a component in an item or another system. It is advisable that you always check for your specific project and system to ensure you have the correct information.
