The development of a more risk-sensitive and flexible airport safety area strategy: Part II. Accident location analysis and airport risk assessment case studies

This two-part paper presents the development of an improved airport risk assessment methodology aimed at assessing risks related to aircraft accidents at and in the vicinity of airports and managing Airport Safety Areas (ASAs) as a risk mitigation measure. The improved methodology is more quantitative, risk-sensitive, flexible and transparent than standard risk assessment approaches. As such, it contributes to the implementation of Safety Management Systems at airports, as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.The second part of the paper presents the analysis of accident locations, including the plotting of Complementary Cumulative Probability Distributions for the relevant accident types. These were then used in conjunction with the improved accident frequency models to produce Complementary Cumulative Frequency Distributions that could be used to assess risks related to specific runways and determine Airport Safety Area (ASA) dimensions necessary to meet a quantitative target level of safety. The approach not only takes into account risk factors previously ignored by standard risk assessments but also considers the operational and traffic characteristics of the runway concerned. The use of the improved risk assessment technique and risk management strategy using ASAs was also demonstrated in two case studies based on New York LaGuardia Airport and Boca Raton Airport in Florida.     

民用机场空防安全的风险管理研究

主要通过对民用机场空防安全存在的风险从作业人员、设备和设施、环境、管理等4方面进行识别;以系统的观点为基础,结合相关法规,建立空防安全风险评价指标体系;运用AHP方法对民用机场的空防安全进行风险研究,并通过研究、分析计算数据,查找、预测民用机场空防系统中存在的一些不足和缺陷;针对机场保安、管理、规章制度等方面的不足,结合中国民航和民用机场的现状及实际情况提出相应的建议性措施,以期达到最低事故率、最少损失和最优的安全投资效益。     

The impact of airport characteristics on airport surface accidents and incidents

IntroductionAirport surface safety and in particular runway and taxiway safety is acknowledged globally as one of aviation's greatest challenges. To improve this key area of aviation safety, it is necessary to identify and understand the causal and contributing factors on safety occurrences. While the contribution of human factors, operations, and procedures has been researched extensively, the impact of the airport and its associated characteristics itself has received little or no attention.MethodThis paper introduces a novel methodology for risk and hazard assessment of airport surface operations, and models the relationships between airport characteristics, and (a) the rate of occurrences, (b) the severity of occurrences, and (c) the causal factors underlying occurrences.ResultsThe results show for the first time how the characteristics of airports, and in particular its infrastructure and operations, influence the safety of surface operations.     

支线机场安全动态预警技术研究

提升支线机场安全管理能力是中国支线机场未来发展面临的一个重大问题,为提高我国支线机场安全管理水平,本文基于系统动态的风险管理思想,针对支线机场安全风险发生随机、动态和系统的特点,结合支线机场安全管理实践,构建了支线机场三维风险识别图,以时间维为主线,空间维为基础,逻辑维为依据,多层次地识别支线机场面临的风险,以提高支线机场风险识别结果的客观性和全面性;将风险概率、风险损失、风险可预测性、风险可控制性纳入了支线机场安全风险分析过程,构建了支线机场安全多维风险评价函数,从而能更系统、全面地对支线机场面临的各种风险因素进行评价;通过上述支线机场风险管理技术的应用,可提高对支线机场安全风险的辨别、分析和控制能力,达到对支线机场安全风险进行实时、动态监控的预警目标,进而减少支线机场安全风险的潜在损失。     

Reference criteria for the identification of accident scenarios in the framework of land use planning

Land use planning (LUP) around industrial sites at risk of major accidents requires the application of sound approaches in the selection of credible accident scenarios. In fact, the ‘technical’ phase of LUP is based on the identification and assessment of relevant accident scenarios. An improper choice of scenarios may critically affect both the ‘technical’ phase of risk assessment and the following ‘policy’ phase concerning decision making on land-use restrictions and/or licensing. The present study introduces a procedure aimed at the systematic identification of reference accident scenarios to be used in the gathering of technical data on potential major accidents, which is a necessary step for LUP around Seveso sites. Possible accident scenarios are generated by an improved version of the MIMAH methodology (Methodology for the Identification of Major Accident Hazards). The accident scenarios are then assessed for LUP relevance considering severity, frequency and time scale criteria. The influence of prevention and mitigation barriers is also taken into account. Two applications are used to demonstrate the proposed procedure. In both case-studies, the proposed methodology proved successful in producing consistent sets of reference scenarios.     

I-Risk: development of an integrated technical and management risk methodology for chemical installations

This paper presents an integrated quantitative risk assessment method for hazardous installations, taking into account management as well as technical design and producing risk level measures. The key components of the I-Risk methodology are the technical model, the management model and their interface. The technical model consists of developing a master logic diagram (MLD) delineating the major immediate causes of loss of containment (LOC) and associated quantitative models for assessing their frequency. The management model consists of the tasks, which must be carried out systematically in the primary business functions (such as operations, emergency operations, maintenance and modifications). A management audit quantifies the quality of these management tasks. The management–technical interface modifies certain parameters of the technical model on the basis of the quality of the safety management system of the specific installation. The methodology is exemplified through its application to the risk assessment of an ammonia storage facility. A detailed technical model simulating the response of the system to various initiating events is developed along with a detailed management model simulating the influence of the plant-specific management and organisational practices. The overall effect is quantified through the frequency of release of ammonia as a result of a loss of containment in a storage tank and in a pipeline.     

机场原因航空器受损事件防控风险评价*

为有效提高机场风险管控能力并保障航空器安全运行,建立科学的机场原因航空器受损事件防控风险评价方法。通过分析航空器过站机场保障作业识别风险因素,采用事故树分析法构建出共包括107个中间事件和207个基本事件的9个机场原因航空器受损事故树;根据机场原因航空器受损事件的千架次风险值确定出整体防控风险等级;应用事故树分析法（FTA）-优劣解距离法（TOPSIS）构建防控风险贴近度指标,对机场各业务风险防控现状进行评价。结果表明:机坪引导工作的防控风险最大,机场原因航空器受损整体防控风险等级评价结果符合机场的整体防控风险状况,与FTA法相比,FTA-TOPSIS法能够更准确地对机场各业务的防控风险进行区分及排序。     

An improved methodology for assessing risk in aircraft operations at airports, applied to runway overruns

The paper addresses the need for models to assess risk at any particular airport, based on risk management principles used by the present risk management process, that use all available data on previous accidents. The case of runway overruns is taken as an example application, because new regulations require the provision of much longer Runway End Safety Areas than had previously been the norm. The paper presents models for overruns arising from both landings and aborted takeoffs. In each case models of overrun risk, of wreckage location and of the consequences are detailed. An example application of the models is then given in a hypothetical risk assessment.The models, though adding value to existing methods of assessing risk, are not as good as they could be, due to the lack of data on normal operations. It was therefore possible only to relate the rate of overruns to the rate of occurrence of the possible driving factors for a few factors where such comparable data on normal operations existed. It is recommended that effort be put into the collection of data to allow a more comprehensive analysis.     

Dynamic risk assessment using failure assessment and Bayesian theory

To ensure the safety of a process system, engineers use different methods to identify the potential hazards that may cause severe consequences. One of the most popular methods used is quantitative risk assessment (QRA) which quantifies the risk associated with a particular process activity. One of QRA's major disadvantages is its inability to update risk during the life of a process. As the process operates, abnormal events will result in incidents and near misses. These events are often called accident precursors. A conventional QRA process is unable to use the accident precursor information to revise the risk profile. To overcome this, a methodology has been proposed based on the work of Meel and Seider (2006). Similar to Meel and Seider (2006) work, this methodology uses Bayesian theory to update the likelihood of the event occurrence and also failure probability of the safety system. In this paper the proposed methodology is outlined and its application is demonstrated using a simple case study. First, potential accident scenarios are identified and represented in terms of an event tree, next, using the event tree and available failure data end-state probabilities are estimated. Subsequently, using the available accident precursor data, safety system failure likelihood and event tree end-state probabilities are revised. The methodology has been simulated using deterministic (point value) as well as probabilistic approach. This Methodology is applied to a case study demonstrating a storage tank containing highly hazardous chemicals. The comparison between conventional QRA and the results from dynamic failure assessment approach shows the significant deviation in system failure frequency throughout the life time of the process unit.     

基于风险防御的机场跑道事故风险控制研究

在风险管理程序中,风险辨识和风险评估是风险管理的基础,而风险控制才是风险管理的最终目标。只有通过风险控制才能实现降低风险水平的目的,才能体现风险管理的全部意义。跑道运行涉及的人员、设备众多,是航空地面事故的多发环节,因而对跑道事故风险进行控制是具有一定意义的。在对现有风险控制方法分析的基础上,提出了基于风险防御的跑道事故风险控制,构建了跑道事故风险防御体系,指出了风险控制的思想重在事故发生前的预防。从技术研究(从具体的事故影响因素角度出发)和组织支持措施(从机场安全管理全局的角度出发)两方面进行跑道事故风险的控制。最后,对风险防御技术进行了研究。从风险控制的角度,为预防跑道事故的发生提供理论依据和指导。     

Accident modelling and analysis in process industries

Accident modelling is a methodology used to relate the causes and effects of events that lead to accidents. This modelling effectively seeks to answer two main questions: (i) Why does an accident occur, and (ii) How does it occur. This paper presents a review of accident models that have been developed for the chemical process industry with in-depth analyses of a class of models known as dynamic sequential accident models (DSAMs). DSAMs are sequential models with a systematic procedure to utilise precursor data to estimate the posterior risk profile quantitatively. DSAM also offers updates on the failure probabilities of accident barriers and the prediction of future end states. Following a close scrutiny of these methodologies, several limitations are noted and discussed, and based on these insights, future work is suggested to enhance and improve this category of models further.     

基于贝叶斯网络的养老院火灾风险评估方法研究

为预防养老院火灾事故,结合事故树法(FTA)和贝叶斯网络法(BN),建立了一套养老院火灾风险定量评估模型。首先,采用事故树法建立潜在的养老院火灾事故场景;其次,考虑到养老院火灾事故场景中不确定因素的影响,将事故树模型转化为贝叶斯网络模型,并结合有人员伤亡的养老院火灾事故发生发展实际优化模型;最后,以某市养老院为例,结合调研、文献及统计数据确定先验概率及条件概率,并用GENIE 2.0软件实现贝叶斯图形化,分析验证该模型逻辑可行性。结果表明:通过该模型和方法,不仅可以预测养老院火灾事故中各场景发生发展概率,还能对各风险因素敏感度和最大致因链进行分析,提高了风险因素辨识和评价的准确性,可以为养老院火灾风险分析和防控提供参考。     

Technical modeling in integrated risk assessment of chemical installations

This paper presents the technical model of an Integrated Quantitative Risk Assessment method, taking into account management as well as technical design and producing risk level measures. The basic steps of the technical model consist in developing a Master Logic Diagram (MLD) delineating the major immediate causes of Loss of Containment and associated quantitative models for assessing their frequency. Appropriate management models quantify the parameters of the technical model on the basis of the safety management system of the installation. The methodology is exemplified through its application on the risk assessment of a LPG scrubbing tower of an oil refinery. A detailed technical model simulating the response of the system to various initiating events is developed, along with a detailed model simulating the influence of the plant-specific management and organizational practices. The overall effect is quantified through the frequency of release of LPG as a result of a Loss of Containment in scrubbing towers of the refinery.     

A fuzzy multi-attribute model for risk evaluation in workplaces

Risk assessment constitutes a critical phase of the safety management process. It basically consists of evaluating the risks involved in the execution of working activities, so as to provide the managers with information suitable to address intervention measures. The most important activity in risk assessment is the risk evaluation task but, despite its importance, national and international regulations have never formalized a standard methodology for addressing it, leaving companies complete freedom to adopt the approach they consider appropriate. As a consequence, companies generally settle on the use of simple methodologies which frequently are not able to emphasize all the main aspects affecting risk in the workplace and to produce a precise ranking of hazardous activities. In this paper, a new methodology for risk evaluation is then proposed with the aim to overcome limitations of the classical approaches. In particular, new factors are introduced to take into account effects of human behavior and environment on risk level, other than the classical injury magnitude and occurrence probability of an accident. The proposed methodology also integrates an estimative approach based on the fuzzy logic theory, which permits more coherence in the evaluation process, producing a very suitable final rank of hazardous activities. Finally, an actual case study is reported to show the capabilities of the new risk evaluation model.     

The development and evaluation of accident prevention routines: A case study

Information resulting from the occurrence of accidents and near-accidents is the basis for most accident prevention efforts. However, such information may not normally be incorporated into local safety activities. A group to assist supervisors in their investigations of accidents and a procedure to prompt the reporting of near-accidents by employees were tested at one company as means of improving local safety activities. The accident investigation group was in operation in all departments and was associated with improved accident reporting and prevention activities as well as a reduction in accident severity. The near-accident reporting procedure was tested in one department and led to improved knowledge about risks, although no reductions in accident frequency and severity were shown. On the basis of these results, the company safety committee decided at the end of the first year to extend the mandate of the investigation group but not to continue with near-accident reporting. Follow-ups after 2 and 3 years indicated that improvements in prevention activities had been maintained and that accident severity had been further reduced.     

基于模糊层次分析法的民用机场安全风险管理

以某一民用机场为例,基于"人-机-环境-管理"的系统工程理论,分析该机场影响飞行安全的各影响因素。利用三角模糊数来表征专家判断信息,构造三角模糊数互补判断矩阵。依据模糊层次分析法,对各影响因素进行单排序和总排序,得到其重要性的排序。模糊层次分析法可以更加客观地描述专家判断的模糊性,并且计算过程简单。基于模糊层次分析法的安全风险管理不仅能够客观地评估民航的安全状态,而且对于有重点地改善民用机场安全有着积极的作用。     

Conceptual compression discussion on a multi-linear (FTA) and systematic (FRAM) method in an offshore operation’s accident modeling

Risk assessment can be classified into two broad categories: traditional and modern. This paper is aimed at contrasting the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM) as a modern approach with the fault tree analysis (FTA) as a traditional method, regarding assessing the risks of a complex system. Applied methodology by which the risk assessment is carried out, is presented in each approach. Also, FRAM network is executed with regard to nonlinear interaction of human and organizational levels to assess the safety of technological systems. The methodology is implemented for lifting structures deep offshore. The main finding of this paper is that the combined application of FTA and FRAM during risk assessment, could provide complementary perspectives and may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of an incident. Finally, it is shown that coupling a FRAM network with a suitable quantitative method will result in a plausible outcome for a predefined accident scenario.     

A new accident model for engineering safer systems

New technology is making fundamental changes in the etiology of accidents and is creating a need for changes in the explanatory mechanisms used. We need better and less subjective understanding of why accidents occur and how to prevent future ones. The most effective models will go beyond assigning blame and instead help engineers to learn as much as possible about all the factors involved, including those related to social and organizational structures. This paper presents a new accident model founded on basic systems theory concepts. The use of such a model provides a theoretical foundation for the introduction of unique new types of accident analysis, hazard analysis, accident prevention strategies including new approaches to designing for safety, risk assessment techniques, and approaches to designing performance monitoring and safety metrics.     

A risk-based modelling approach to enhance shipping accident investigation

This paper developed a risk-based modelling approach to enhance the execution process of shipping accident investigation (SAI). Specifically, the paper addressed a fuzzy extended fault tree analysis (FFTA) that combines the effects of organizational faults and shipboard technical system failures under a unique risk assessment scheme. The case study illustrates that a novel idea behind the proposed methodology allows relevant accident investigators to clarify the probability of technical failures, operational misapplications, and legislative shortages leading to the shipping accident. The current SAI reports can be extended with an integrated risk assessment section to formulate integrated strategies along with risk control measures onboard ships. Since the consequences of shipping accidents are still a global concern, the paper addresses integration of a FFTA into SAI reports to ensure a consistent database and subsequent decision aid to accident analysis and prevention efforts in the maritime transportation industry.     

Uncertainty aspects in process safety analysis

Uncertainties of input data as well as of simulation models used in process safety analysis (PSA) are key issues in the application of risk analysis results. Mostly, it is connected with an incomplete and uncertain identification of representative accident scenario (RAS) and other vague and ambiguous information required for the assessment of particular elements of risk, especially for determination of frequency as well as severity of the consequences of RAS. The authors discuss and present the sources and types of uncertainties encountered in PSA and also methods to deal with them. There are different approaches to improve such analysis including sensitivity analysis, expert method, statistics and fuzzy logic. Statistical approach uses probability distribution of the input data and fuzzy logic approach uses fuzzy sets. This paper undertakes the fuzzy approach and presents a proposal for fuzzy risk assessment. It consists of a combination of traditional part, where methods within the process hazard analysis (PHA) are used, and “fuzzy part”, applied quantitatively, where fuzzy logic system (FLS) is involved. It concerns frequency, severity of the consequences of RAS and risk evaluation. In addition, a new element called risk correction index (RCI) is introduced to take into account uncertainty concerned with the identification of RAS. The preliminary tests confirmed that the final results on risk index are more precisely and realistically determined.