Historical data, reliance

Pyrolysis-mass spectrometry (Py-MS) has found many applications in microbiology, geochemistry, and soil and polymer sciences. However, its development has been historically hindered by the lack of competitively priced instrumentation, which has restricted the number of laboratories able to use the technique. Furthermore, because of the nature and complexity of the data produced, a heavy reliance upon statistical techniques has been required for data analysis. This specific problem has benefited greatly from the development of powerful personal computers and the increased availability of suitable software, as well as the reduction in price of mass spectrometers and the production of specific libraries for pyrolysis work. 

Risk analysis is a proactive approach in the sense that it makes ns able to identify and assess accident risks before any losses have occurred. It has many similarities to the reactive approaches presented in Part III. It utilises all four sub-systems of the SHE information system, i.e. data collection (risk identification), processing (evaluation of risk), memory (e.g. reliance on historical accident data) and distribution of results for decision-making. 

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