Risk assessment accident investigations

Many of the accidents considered in the investigation could occur without causing any significant public casualties. However, if the conditions at the time of the accident were sufficiently unfavorable, the number of deaths among the public could range from tens up to thousands (Table 11.4-1). Table 11.4-1 is the summarized population risk assessed by the study team. It is in frequency per 10,(XX) years of an accident at the indicated facility that causes casualties exceeding the indicated limit. Reference should be made to Canvey (1978) for details. 

William R. Rhyne received a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee and M.S. and D.Sc. degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia. Dr. Rhyne is currently an independent consultant and earlier cofounded H R Technical Associates, Inc., where he remains a member of the board of directors. He has extensive experience in risk and safety analyses associated with nuclear and chemical processes and with the transport of hazardous nuclear materials and chemicals. From 1984 to 1987, he was the project manager and principal investigator for a probabilistic accident analysis of transporting obsolete chemical munitions. Dr. Rhyne has authored or coauthored numerous publications and reports in nuclear and chemical safety and risk analysis areas and is author of the book Hazardous Materials Transportation Risk Analysis Quantitative Approaches for Truck and Train. He is a former member of the NRC Transportation Research Board Hazardous Materials Committee, the Society for Risk Assessment, the American Nuclear... 

Attend at least two 8-hour safety training courses/seminars per year. (Examples include Modern Safety Management, Accident Investigation, Critical Task Identification and Analysis, Risk Assessment, Accredited Auditors.)... 

LuxhaJ, XT. (2003). Probabilistic Causal Analysis for System Safety Risk Assessments in Commercial Air Transport. Workshop on Investigating and Reporting of Incidents and Accidents (IRIA). Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

The objectives of this standardized observational technique are risk assessment as well as effectiveness evaluation of traffic facilities, not estimations regarding the quantity of accidents [35]. Thereby, conflicts have a probability to become accidents, which does not mean that accidents can be predicted with the method [35]. The transition probabilities between conflicts and accidents, as needed, for example, in the above-mentioned fault tree analyses, can be assessed [42]. Compared to accident analysis, investigating conflicts has the following advantages [35] ... 

A systematic course of action of developing occupational safety exists. It includes the goals, methods and responsibilities of occupational health and safety as well as competences and description of occupational health care. Work-related harms and risk factors (including the ones related to the environment) have been identified and the risks they cause have been assessed. Accidents are investigated and documented. 

Risk assessments are carried out for each site when changes occur and every 5 years even with no changes. The crane business requires that a lifting plan be made for each time lifting is done. All safety-related requests from the client are also noted and considered in the individual lifts. So far Havator has not encountered any major accidents and internal research has always been enough when accidents do occur. All investigations are documented and most of them have to do with the Nordic climate, e.g., snow and ice-related slips and falls. Hazardous incidents are also reported and presented in the meetings of the safety committee. In serious cases, information is spread and preventive actions are taken. Some of the cases are... 

Fault tree analysis is an analytical technique that is used to trace the chronological progression of factors (events) contributing to the accident situation, and is useful in accident investigation and as a predictive, quantitative model in risk assessment. Again,the principle of multicausality is utilised in this type of analysis. (A fuller treatment on fault tree analysis is given at section 10.6). 

Identify and predict hazards which may be associated with specific occupations and tasks. Undertake rudimentary risk assessment. Investigate accidents. 

It is very important to stress that the content of the induction course should be subject to constant review and updated following an accident investigation, new legislation, changes in the findings of a risk assessment or the introduction of new plant or processes. 

Job-specific training ensures that employees undertake their jobs in a safe manner. Such training, therefore, is a form of skill training and is often best done on the job -sometimes known as toolbox training . Details of the safe system of work or, in more hazardous jobs, a permit to work system should be covered. In addition to normal safety procedures, emergency procedures and the correct use of personal protective equipment also needs to be included. The results of risk assessments are very useful in the development of this type of training. It is important that any common causes of human errors (e.g. discovered as a result of an accident Investigation), any standard safety checks or maintenance requirements are addressed. 

The investigation of each accident and incident should include a review of the relevant risk assessment or risk assessments. This review should include checks on the following ... 

All of these checks should be made in the context of the information available to the assessors at the time of the risk assessment since the purpose of the checks is to identify weaknesses in the current procedures for risk assessment and risk control. Once this has been done, the relevant risk assessment(s) can be reviewed in the light of the new information arising from the accident or incident investigation and, if necessary, the risk assessment can be revised. However, it should always be remembered that the occurrence of an accident or incident is not, per se, a demonstration that the risk assessment was incorrect. 

Thorough accident investigations will determine agencies and also isolate specific hazards as part of the overall risk assessment. 

Near miss incidents have often been referred to as Safety in the Shadows, because this is where the heart of the accident problem lies. Near miss incidents offer management an opportunity to rectify a system breakdown before an accident happens. Because there are no losses as a result of an undesired event does not necessarily mean that the event is insignificant. Risk assessment of near miss incidents will determine which ones warrant a full investigation. This will help to track and eliminate the source of the problem at the root. 

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