Precautionary measure fine as a life plays out (8)
I believe the answer is:
failsafe
'precautionary measure' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'fine as a life plays out' is the wordplay.
'fine' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'plays' is an anagram indicator.
'out' is an insertion indicator.
'as'+'a'+'life'='asalife'
'asalife' anagrammed gives 'failsae'.
'f' inserted within 'failsae' is 'FAILSAFE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for failsafe that I've seen is " designed to prevent crashes".)