Safety regulations prescriptive/goal-based

Safety regulations can be either prescriptive or non-prescriptive (goal-based). Prescriptive regulations are what most people think of when safety is discussed, and are... 

That recommendation paved the way to a transition from prescriptive requirements to more goal-based requirements expressed in functional terms, which gave the operating party opportunities to choose which detailed solutions could be used to operate safely, and in accordance with the level of standard set in the regulations. That the activity is to be conducted in an acceptable manner expresses a legal standard which provides no direct specification of the level of safety required. The content of the standard will depend on current social perceptions, practice in the petroleum industry, and so forth. The requirement to maintain an acceptable level of safety can thereby change in line with developments (Hagen et ak, op cit, p. 449.)... 

OSHA is known for establishing prescriptive regulations for worker health and safety, but the agency has pursued more goal-based practices, including process safety management (PSM) and a voluntary protection program (VPP), both of which are explained below. 

As discussed in Chapter 3, Subpart S of 30 CFR 250 requires the lessee to develop, implement, and maintain a SEMS for offshore oil and gas operations on the basis of API s RP 75. This goal-based SMS became effective on November 15,2011, and moved the regulations for offshore oil and gas operations from a primarily prescriptive system to a more risk-based system under which operators were required to demonstrate that the health and safety procedures described in the SEMS plan accomplished the stated goals. The shift away from a more prescriptive system was due in part to the inadequacy of an inspection process that encouraged compliance with checklists of potential incidents of noncompliance (PINCs) that tended to focus on preventing hardware-related mechanical failures. Previous reports indicated that most accidents occurring on the OCS were due to human factors or to not following proper procedures (Bea and Moore 1992 NRC 1990 TRB 2012). The rules in SEMS (for... 

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