A Feasibility Pilot Study for the Development of an Inherent Safety Opportunity Audit/Technology Options Analysis

Project Information

Grant agreement ID: ENV4960244

Project closed

Start date 1 July 1996

End date 31 December 1998

Funded under

• Specific programme of research and technological development in the field of environment and climate, 1994-1998

Total cost No data

EU contribution No data

Coordinated by

Nederlands Instituut voor Arbeidsomstandigheden NIA
Netherlands

Objective

The purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility of developing an inherent safety opportunity audit/technology options analysis to encourage the adoption of primary prevention approaches.

It is now generally recognised that in order to make significant advances in accident prevention, the focus of industrial firms must shift from assessing the risks of existing production and manufacturing systems to technological alternatives, i.e. from the identification of problems to the identification of solutions. The underlying premise of this proposed research is that encouraging the industrial firm to perform technology options analysis (TOA) and to consider technological changes through an inherent safety opportunity audit would facilitate the advance of primary prevention strategies that will alter production systems so that there are less inherent risks. Inherent safety approaches also have managerial advantages over secondary accident prevention: they fit more easily with proactive policies, and facilitate organizational learning processes that are vital for the continuous improvement in safety and environmental performance that is needed for a sustainable development.
A Technology Options Analysis (TOA) should form the centrepiece of an Inherent Safety Opportunity Audit (ISOA). This approach enables the industrial firm to identify and consider changes and alternatives to their present production technologies and approaches. This includes inputs, final production and process changes involving alternative synthetic pathways.
This project concerns the development of such a Technological Options Analysis (TOA) as part of an Inherent Safety Opportunity Audit (ISOA), the realization of four pilot projects in relevant companies (2 in The Netherlands, 2 in Greece), the adoption and implementation of the Technological Options insofar that they are found to be feasible and the evaluation and description of the process of these interventions and the results thereof in the form of a monograph.

Programme(s)

• FP4-ENV 2C - Specific programme of research and technological development in the field of environment and climate, 1994-1998

Topic(s)

• 02020103 - Industrial safety

Call for proposal

Data not available

Funding Scheme

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Nederlands Instituut voor Arbeidsomstandigheden NIA

• EU contribution: No data
• Address: 30,De Boelelaan ; 1070 AR Amsterdam ; Netherlands
• Total cost: No data

Participants (1)

Ergonomia Ltd.

Greece

• EU contribution: No data
• Address: 77,September Street ; 10434 Athens
• Total cost: No data