Evidence operating policies

To provide a further level of assurance one can undertake a formal review of those operating policies which are critical for maintaining safe operation. The outcome of the review can then be documented as evidence in the safety case. A checklist of desirable policy characteristics would be one way of demonstrating that a methodical approach had been employed in the review. 

In the real world individuals don t always abide by the rules. It has been shown that healthcare professionals have a tendency to forget to follow protocols or deviate from them even when they are available [13]. With this in mind it is prudent to take reasonable measures to ensure that key operating policies are complied with. Hudson et al. [14] provides a useful list of steps to reduce policy violation. These can be translated into a helpful set of prompts to evidence a policy review ... 

This is usually all too easy for the realists. Rarely, for example, do treasury officials have to stand in front of TV cameras and justify to the public why they did not support an evidence-based proposal for an investment in a policy or project. The public is never aware of those thumbs-down decisions made out of sight with considerable frequency in any government. Yet they cost lives. Achieving successful change— which of course relies on a healthy mix of both approaches—does rely on aspiration. This tends to be overlooked in risk-averse public sector operation with the increasing focus on populism by politicians in recent years making difficult but evidence-based policy adoption less common. 

Costs associated with increased government regulation are also difficult to quantify. Public concern in response to chemical release accidents affects regulators and community policy groups. It is evident that the U.S. chemical industry is already spending large amounts of money to avoid accidents and to deal with their consequences when they occur these costs are borne in part by the consumers. Continued expenditures are likely as industry strives to achieve an "acceptable" level of public safety throughout all chemical industry operations. 

Research and analytical work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crime issues and expand the evidence-base for policy and operational decisions ... 

The decision maker s problem is to operate within all of the uncertainties inherent in the determination of the adequacy of the qualitative evidence of carcinogenicity to humans and in the quantitative projection of risks to exposed populations and arrive at a reasonable public policy conclusion. One very experienced operative in the field drew the following conclusion regarding the goal of determining the risks to public health from potential carcinogens (47) ... 

There is a federal statutory requirement requiring evidence of ability to pay the costs of remediation at sites with UST releases. The costs of corrective action are borne by many state financial assurance funds or through the purchase of insurance policies by owners and operators. Many of these funds have experienced revenue shortfalls as the money paid out for corrective action is not covered by the money paid in. When funds start experiencing these shortfalls, corrective action slows down. 

He presented the Committee with information on the new structure of the Department as a result of changes in December 2004 and January 2005. Activities and operations were in line with the four-year Medicines Strategy, development and promotion of standards, international treaties, the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and the WHO Model Formulary, collection of evidence for medicines policies (including national medicines policies, access to and rational use of medicines and adherence to treatment), and promotion of consistency in pharmaceutical matters in United Nations agencies in a collaborative framework. 

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