Using the ALARP principle for safety management in the energy production sector of chemical industry

•We discuss the use of the ALARP principle for safety management in chemical industry.•The appropriateness of the principle strongly depends on implementation.•A way to adopt the ALARP principle as a general decision-making principle is shown. In the context of chemical industry, in particular in hi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reliability engineering & system safety 2018-01, Vol.169, p.160-165
Main Authors: Abrahamsen, Eirik Bjorheim, Abrahamsen, Håkon Bjorheim, Milazzo, Maria Francesca, Selvik, Jon Tømmerås
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical industry
Cost benefit analysis
Decision analysis
Decision making
Ecological risk assessment
Energy management
Environmental impact
Hazardous materials
Precautionary principle
Reliability engineering
Safety
Safety management
Safety measures
Studies
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Summary:•We discuss the use of the ALARP principle for safety management in chemical industry.•The appropriateness of the principle strongly depends on implementation.•A way to adopt the ALARP principle as a general decision-making principle is shown. In the context of chemical industry, in particular in high hazard industries, the adoption of safety measures is essential to reduce risks and environmental impacts, due to the release of dangerous substances, at level that is reasonably practicable. The ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable) principle is broadly used for decision-making in safety management, supported by cost-benefit analyses and the grossly disproportionate criterion, but without paying the proper attention to the decision frame (defined by the level of uncertainty and knowledge of the chemical phenomena, the use of best available technologies, the potential of major losses due to the release of hazardous materials and other items). In this paper, by examining the energy production sector of chemical industry, it will be argued that the decision context makes the application of the ALARP principle not always proper, whereas a dynamic interpretation, in which decisions are made oscillating between two borderlines, where in one case reference is made to expected values and in the other one to the precautionary principle, is more appropriate.
ISSN:0951-8320
1879-0836
DOI:10.1016/j.ress.2017.08.014