Formal Safety Assessments

International Maritime Organization (IMO), 2002. Guidelines for Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) for Use in the IMO Rule-Making Process. 

The proposed framework for formal vulnerability assessment [FVA] for maritime supply chains is presented below. In short, this is an expansion of the Formal Safety Assessment [FSA] methodology described by IMO for maritime applications (IMO 2002). FSA is a structured and systematic, tested and provenmethod-ology for enhancing safety, including protection of life, health, the marine environment and property, latest used for risk based design of vessels (SAFEDOR 2009). 

Formal Safety Assessment [FSA] is a designation used in a number of different contexts, (e.g. the nuclear industry) in order to describe a rational and systematic risk-based approach for safety assessment (Kristiansen 2005). In the maritime world, FSA was first proposed by the UK Marine Safety Agency in 1993 [Marine Coastal Agency from 1998], which was adopted by the International Maritime Organization [IMO] in 1997. The guidelines for FSA were approved for use by IMO through the Guidelines for Formal Safety Assessment (IMO 2002). 

Formal Safety Assessment Formal uluerability Assessment... 

FangQ,YangZ, HuS,WangJ. 2005 Formal safety assessment and application of the navigation simulators for preventing human error in ship operations. Journal of Maritime Science Applied 2005 4(3), Rotterdam Balkema... 

Primarily the Safety Case is a matter of ensuring that every company produces a formal safety assessment to assure itself that its operations are safe. 

Formal Safety Assessments (FSAs) are built around the concept of acceptable risk. For example, the decision as to whether a firewall should be installed between two sections of the platform will depend on the associated risk, i.e., the nature of the hazard (spreading fire, the consequence of the fire, and the... 

The two dominant offshore cultures at the time—the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico—each vigorously reacted to the report s findings, but those responses were different from one another. Companies operating in the North Sea had already put in place a Safety Case culture (which included Formal Safety Assessments). However, The Cullen Report was very critical of the manner in which many of the safety cases had been prepared and implemented. In response to this criticism, companies operating in the North Sea (and late in other areas such as Australia and Southeast Asia) made great strides in improving the quality and implementation of their safety cases (Chapter 6 discusses the Safety Case technique). 

The paradigm shift that The Cullen Report emphasized was to move toward a performance and risk-based approach to offshore safety management through the use of upgraded and much more thorough Safety Cases. The report also stressed the importance of Formal Safety Assessments that address issues such as fire and explosion analysis and the design of escape routes. 

The second key feature of the above quotation is that the facility management has to develop a formal safety assessment. This means that a framework for understanding risk, and what levels of risk are acceptable, has to be developed. Just following the appropriate regulations and standards is not enough. This... 

All three elements must be linked to one another. For example, the facility description will provide technical information that provides the basis of the formal safety assessment and the safety management system. Similarly, the safety management system will define what information should be included in the facility description. 

Formal safety assessments (as discussed in the next chapter) wiU analyze MAEs to assess the level of risk associated with them and to take corrective actions as necessary to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. 

The Facility Description provides information needed to verify that the design and operating philosophies are consistent with the Safety Management System and the assumptions and outputs of the Formal Safety Assessment. In addition to a description of the facility itself, the Facility Description should also discuss interactions with existing and planned facilities. 

Once the facility description is finalized and the guidance for an allowable risk is provided, a Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) can commence. (The term Safety in Design is sometimes used to express the same concept.)... 

The previous chapter had to do with Safety Cases and referred to the importance of Formal Safety Assessments (FSA). An FSA is a technical assessment carried out to determine the likelihood and impact of high-consequence events and to help develop corrective actions. Most FSA work is done during the design stage because that is the time when major changes to equipment design and layout can be made without having to carry out expensive retro-fit work. 

The Assumptions Register contains a list of the assumptions used to develop the Formal Safety Assessment and its matching safety case. 

Establish a link between the control measure and potential major incidents. This is necessary for formal safety assessment where applicable. 

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