Acceptance criteria for the risk of occupational accidents

Historical data on accident-frequency rates for a particular plant often show a downward trend. A trend of this type can be explained by operational conditions, such as improved experience and SHE management. Risk-acceptance criteria for use during design should not be sensitive to such trends. Rather then defining the risk-acceptance criterion as a fixed accident-frequency rate, the following criterion is suggested  

This means that there must not be a deterioration of the technical safety level for new plants, as compared to existing plants. 

Example This criterion was implemented in the SHE programme of an offshore project for the design and construction of a new floating production and drilling installation. The selected concept involved a number of challenges concerning the risk of occupational accidents  

All these factors were expected to increase the accident-frequency rate. The acceptance criterion implied that compensatory actions had to be taken in design to meet the criterion. These included actions to reduce the exposure of the personnel to hazards and actions to reduce the probability of accidents. 

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