Accident data improvements needed

The interface of CAD information with DBMS continues to improve. This provides the capability to extend management of safety information further. For example, there may be a need to associate accident data by department with floor plans. Drawings can show the exact location for each accident. The drawings can add insight into frequency and severity of accidents. In a similar way colors or shading can represent risk types or severity levels on floor plans or site maps. The risks may show the kinds of hazards. 

The paper reports some of the initiatives undertaken in the field of chemical accidents of industrial origin. The accent was on the necessity to share available information between countries about the occurrence of the events and lessons learned. It is recognized that there is still the need to improve the harmonization of reporting tools towards the homogenization of data collection. The issue of possible transboundary effects of chemical accidents has not been covered in this report. However, a number of reporting and alert systems have been established in Conventions signed by representatives of several countries in Europe and world-wide. 

The analysis of the icebreaker operations is a key aspect to consider when analyzing the number of accidents occurred during ice sea conditions. The fact that 19% of the accidents reported under ice conditions are related to the operations of icebreakers, indicates the clear need to improve the efficiency of one key player within the winter navigation system. In the analyzed data, towing has been detected as the operation with the major number of accidents with minor severity regarding the accidents outcome. Nevertheless, the operation needs to be analyzed more in deep in order to be improved. 

Regulatory authorities, operators and maintainers need to enforce a proactive approach to safety, whereby the safety management system not only ensures that the intended level of safety remains intact, but also that trends are monitored and used to make improvements before an accident or incident occurs. Trends can be monitored via internal programmes such as FRAC AS/DRACAS (see Appendix A) as well as via data-sharing programmes such as Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA), Aviation Safety Action Partnerships (ASAP) and accident databases. 

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