Benefit-cost analysis

The use of cost benefit analysis as a platform on which a given option is finally selected for implementation is an appealing proposal. In practice, however, it can be quite complicated, especially in cases where human lives are involved. The fact that ships are manned wiA multinational crews, usually officers from developed countries and crew from developing ones, and obliged to trade in all parts of the world, creates a difficulty in selecting the proper human life value for cost benefit analysis. Furthermore, the use of different values on different nationalities would have an adverse and undesirable effect on both international relations and working conditions onboard ships. 

A feasible solution to this problem would, once more, involve an international agreement on a reliable method of estimating the current value of human life. The international regulatory bodies should not only be responsible for the initial deliberations, but also for the constant follow up of the international economic, political and social trends that influence that value. 

FSA provides a consistent regime that addresses all aspects of safety (design and operation) in an integrated manner. 

FSA is a pro-active approach. Hence, it enables hazards that have not yet given rise to accidents to be properly considered. 

Owners and operators can ensure that safety investments are targeted where it will achieve the greatest benefit. 

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Process Hazards Analysis. Analysis of processes for unrecogni2ed or inadequately controUed ha2ards (see Hazard analysis and risk assessment) is required by OSHA (36). The principal methods of analysis, in an approximate ascending order of intensity, are what-if checklist failure modes and effects ha2ard and operabiHty (HAZOP) and fault-tree analysis. Other complementary methods include human error prediction and cost/benefit analysis. The HAZOP method is the most popular as of 1995 because it can be used to identify ha2ards, pinpoint their causes and consequences, and disclose the need for protective systems. Fault-tree analysis is the method to be used if a quantitative evaluation of operational safety is needed to justify the implementation of process improvements. 

Once the options have been clearly defined it will be necessary to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of each option. This has two main objectives. First, the overall cost of the project will need to be assessed to determine whether or not it is financially viable and, second, to ensure that those who will be required to incur expenditure are fully aware of the commitment needed. The financial benefits to users of the waters for recreation, fisheries, navigation, etc., are relatively easy to determine, but monetary valuation of the environmental benefits such as conservation and general amenity will be more difficult to define. As yet this aspect of the cost-benefit analysis has not been fully developed in the UK. Having determined a range of options and costs for eutrophication control in a particular catchment, consultation on the details of the Action plan with all those involved is needed before any plan can be implemented. 

Covernment and regulatoi y decisions. Sometimes these decisions are based on some type of quantitative risk analysis, and they provide some guidance on society s expectations with regard to risk management. In some cases these decisions will also include some kind of cost-benefit analysis. The current political climate in the United States may encourage more extensive use of risk analysis in the establishment of future regulations. 

Discuss the extent to which cost-benefit analysis should be considered in setting emission standards. 

The Safety Goal Policy Statement was published to define acceptable radiological risk IVom nuclear power plant operation, and by implication provide a de minimus risk to be assured without cost considerations. Safety beyond the minimum requires cost-benefit analysis. Since being promulgated, bulletins and generic letters have been imposed to enhance safety, under the provisions of 10 CFR 50.109, the Backfit Rule. 

Subjective evaluation of recommendation effectiveness Subjective evaluation of recommendation effectiveness Cost/benefit analysis of recommendations... 

VI A - Value Impact Analysis, a form of cost benefit analysis that includes attribute evaluations in addition to dollars. 

In a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), the cost of a remedial measure is weighed against the environmental benefits it creates. Is it worth investing in a new scrubber for a plant if the impacts on its surroundings decrease by 10%. ... 

Consider the consequences of possible errors for risk assessment or for cost-benefit analysis when considering alternative ERS. 

The major difference between an OSHA-mandated investigation and other RCFA is that an appropriate corrective action or actions must be implemented as quickly as possible. In the non-OSHA-mandated RCFA process, a corrective action may or may not be implemented, depending on the results of the cost-benefit analysis. 

The cost of corrective actions is not a consideration in the OS HA regulations, but it must be considered as part of the analysis. Because of the critical timeline that governs an OSHA-mandated investigation, a full cost-benefit analysis may not be possible. However, the investigating... 

The comparison between these components can be done using different methods (e.g., Murray and Evans 2003 Edejer et al. 2003 Muenning 2002 Drummond et al. 2004). First, all inputs and results can be expressed in monetary terms, that is, outputs, outcomes, and impacts are transformed to currency units and compared with the costs (difference or quotient). This cost-benefit analysis is rarely done in... 

Three evaluative modes are discussed here cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis (and its recently distinguished variant cost-consequences analysis) and cost-utility analysis. Books by Drummond et al (1997) and Gold et al (1996)—the two most respected and widely cited texts on health economics evaluations—give excellent accounts of these modes of economic evaluation, and interested readers are referred to them for more advanced discussions. 

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is unique among economic evaluations in that it addresses the extent to which a particular course of action, such as a drug treatment or a hospital admission, is economically or socially worth while in the broadest sense. A CBA measures... 

Cost-benefit analysis Cost-effectiveness analysis Cost-consequences analysis Cost-utility analysis Cost-offset analysis Comprehensive Comprehensive Comprehensive Comprehensive Comprehensive Monetary valuation of outcomes One outcome only Multiple outcomes measured Summary utility score of outcomes No outcomes measured... 

Frankenburg FR, Zanarini MC, Cole JO, et al (1992). Hospitalization rates among clozapine-treated patients a prospective cost-benefit analysis. Ann Clin Psychiatry Ay... 

Ginsberg G, Shani S, Lev B (1998). Cost-benefit analysis of risperidone and clozapine in the treatment of schizophrenia in Israel. Pharmacoeconomics 13,231—41. 

Le Pen C, Levy E, Ravily J, et al (1994). The cost of treatment dropout in depression. A cost-benefit analysis of fluoxetine vs tricyclics. /... 

Shah and Jenkins (2000) in a review of mental health economic studies from around the world identified 40 cost-of-illness studies, of which five covered all disorders, one neuroses, two panic disorders and one anxiety. All were from developed countries. There were numerous cost-effectiveness studies but none involving the anxiety disorders specifically. One study in the UK examined the cost-benefit analysis of a controlled trial of nurse therapy for neurosis in primary care (Ginsberg et al, 1984). 

Ginsberg G, Marks I, Waters H (1984). Cost-benefit analysis of a controlled trial of nurse... 

There are four types of economic evaluation cost-minimization analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and cost-benefit analysis. The analytic framework chosen will depend upon the economic questions posed and the clinical evidence of effectiveness for the interventions (Gold et al, 1996 Dmmmondetal, 1997). 

Cost-benefit analysis uses monetary valuations of the morbidity and mortality consequences of diseases or interventions. This allows estimation of the absolute and relative net social benefit of intervention, calculated as the monetary value of the consequences of an intervention minus the direct costs. Any health or social care intervention with a net social benefit greater than zero (i.e. the benefits are greater than the costs) is worth undertaking. Two approaches have typically been used to value outcomes in monetary values. The first is the human capital approach, where the monetary value of benefit represents the value of changes in the amount or type of work done or use of leisure time as... 

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