ALARP
As low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), or as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), is a principle in the regulation and management of safety-critical and safety-involved systems. The principle is that the residual risk shall be reduced as far as reasonably practicable. In UK and NZ Health and safety law, it is equivalent to so far as is reasonably practicable (SFAIRP). In the US, ALARA is used in the regulation of radiation risks. For a risk to be ALARP, it must be possible to demonstrate that the cost involved in reducing the risk further would be disproportionate to the benefit gained. Factors Determining that a risk has been reduced to ALARP involves an assessment of the risk and costs involved in taking measures to avoid that risk, and a comparison of the two according to cost–benefit analysis (CBA). In this context, risk is the combination of the frequency (likelihood) and the consequence of a specified hazardous event. Several factors are likely to be considered whe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Radiation Protection
Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Exposure can be from a source of radiation external to the human body or due to internal irradiation caused by the ingestion of radioactive contamination. Ionizing radiation is widely used in industry and medicine, and can present a significant health hazard by causing microscopic damage to living tissue. There are two main categories of ionizing radiation health effects. At high exposures, it can cause "tissue" effects, also called "deterministic" effects due to the certainty of them happening, conventionally indicated by the unit Gray (unit), gray and resulting in acute radiation syndrome. For low level exposures there can be statistically elevated risks of radiation-induced cancer, called "stochastic effects" due to the uncertainty of them ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Value Of Life
The value of life is an economic value used to quantify the benefit of avoiding a fatality. It is also referred to as the cost of life, value of preventing a fatality (VPF), implied cost of averting a fatality (ICAF), and value of a statistical life (VSL). In social and political sciences, it is the marginal cost of death prevention in a certain class of circumstances. In many studies the value also includes the quality of life, the expected life time remaining, as well as the earning potential of a given person especially for an after-the-fact payment in a wrongful death claim lawsuit. As such, it is a statistical term, the value of reducing the average number of deaths by one. It is an important issue in a wide range of disciplines including economics, health care, adoption, political economy, insurance, worker safety, environmental impact assessment, globalization, and process safety. The motivation for placing a monetary value on life is to enable policy and regulatory ana ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Process Safety
Process safety is an interdisciplinary engineering domain focusing on the study, prevention, and management of large-scale fires, explosions and chemical accidents (such as toxic gas clouds) in process plants or other facilities dealing with hazardous materials, such as refineries and oil and gas ( onshore and offshore) production installations. Thus, process safety is generally concerned with the prevention of, control of, mitigation of and recovery from unintentional hazardous materials releases that can have a serious effect to people (onsite and offsite), plant and/or the environment. Definition and scope The American Petroleum Institute defines process safety as follows: A disciplined framework for managing the integrity of hazardous operating systems and processes by applying good design principles, engineering, and operating and maintenance practices. It deals with the prevention and control of events that have the potential to release hazardous materials or energy. Such ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environment), often focusing on negative, undesirable consequences. Many different definitions have been proposed. One ISO standard, international standard definition of risk is the "effect of uncertainty on objectives". The understanding of risk, the methods of assessment and management, the descriptions of risk and even the definitions of risk differ in different practice areas (business, economics, Environmental science, environment, finance, information technology, health, insurance, safety, security, security, privacy, etc). This article provides links to more detailed articles on these areas. The international standard for risk management, ISO 31000, provides principles and general guidelines on managing risks faced by organizations. Defi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Safety
Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 14th century. It is derived from Latin , meaning uninjured, in good health, safe. There are two slightly different meanings of "safety". For example, " home safety" may indicate a building's ability to protect against external harm events (such as weather, home invasion, etc.), or may indicate that its internal installations (such as appliances, stairs, etc.) are safe (not dangerous or harmful) for its inhabitants. Discussions of safety often include mention of related terms. Security is such a term. With time the definitions between these two have often become interchanged, equated, and frequently appear juxtaposed in the same sentence. Readers are left to conclude whether they comprise a redundancy. This confuses the uniqueness that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ratchet Effect
The ratchet effect is a concept in sociology and economics illustrating the difficulty with reversing a course of action once a specific thing has occurred, analogous with the mechanical ratchet (device), ratchet that allows movement in one direction and seizes or tightens in the opposite. The concept has been applied to multiple fields of study and is related to the phenomena of scope creep, mission creep, and feature creep. Background The ratchet effect first came to light in Alan T. Peacock, Alan Peacock and Jack Wiseman (economist), Jack Wiseman's 1961 report "The Growth of Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom." Peacock and Wiseman found that public spending increases like a ratchet following periods of crisis. The term was later expanded upon by American historian Robert Higgs in the 1987 book ''Crisis and Leviathan,'' highlighting Peacock and Wiseman's research as it relates to governments experiencing difficulty in Rollback (legislation), rolling back huge bureaucra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Principal–agent Problem
The principal–agent problem refers to the conflict in interests and priorities that arises when one person or entity (the " agent") takes actions on behalf of another person or entity (the " principal"). The problem worsens when there is a greater discrepancy of interests and information between the principal and agent, as well as when the principal lacks the means to punish the agent. The deviation from the principal's interest by the agent is called " agency costs".''Pay Without Performance'', Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried, Harvard University Press 2004preface and introduction) Common examples of this relationship include corporate management (agent) and shareholders (principal), elected officials (agent) and citizens (principal), or brokers (agent) and markets (buyers and sellers, principals). In all these cases, the principal has to be concerned with whether the agent is acting in the best interest of the principal. Principal-agent models typically either examine moral ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Conflict Of Interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in which the personal interest of an individual or organization might adversely affect a duty owed to decision-making, make decisions for the benefit of a third party. An "interest" is a commitment, obligation, duty or goal associated with a specific social role or practice. By definition, a "conflict of interest" occurs if, within a particular decision-making context, an individual is subject to two coexisting interests that are in direct conflict with each other ("competing interests"). This is important because under these circumstances, the decision-making process can be disrupted or compromised, affecting the integrity or reliability of the outcomes. Typically, a conflict of interest arises when an individual occupies tw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bureaucratic Drift
Bureaucratic drift in American political science is a theory that seeks to explain the tendency for bureaucratic agencies to create policy that deviates from the original mandate. The difference between a bureaucracy's enactment of a law and the legislature's intent is called bureaucratic drift. Legislation is produced by elected officials, but is implemented by unelected bureaucrats, who sometimes act under their own preferences or interests. Bureaucratic drift is often treated as a principal–agent problem, with Congress and the Presidency acting as principals and bureaucracy acting as the agent. The government seeks to control bureaucratic drift in a number of ways, most notably congressional oversight and procedural controls. History Mathew McCubbins, Roger Noll, and Barry Weingast first defined the theory of bureaucratic drift in 1987. They argued that drift is essentially a principal-agent problem that explores "how—or indeed, whether—elected political officials can ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Directive 89/391/EEC
Directive 89/391/EEC is a European Union directive with the objective to introducing measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. It is described as a "Framework Directive" for occupational safety and health (OSH) by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. History and effect The proposal for the directive was adopted by the European Commission on 24 February 1988 and transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, which consulted the European Economic and Social Committee. The proposal was approved with amendments in the first and second readings by the European Parliament, after which the Commission adopted amended proposals. The Council approved the re-examined proposal on 12 June 1989. Directive 89/391/EEC entered into force on 19 June 1989 and member states were obligated to bring into force laws, regulations and administrative provisions to comply with it by 31 December 1992. The directive was amend ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informally known as "commissioners") corresponding to two thirds of the number of Member state of the European Union, member states, unless the European Council, acting unanimously, decides to alter this number. The current number of commissioners is 27, including the president. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The commission is divided into departments known as Directorate-General, Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or Ministry (government department), ministries each headed by a director-general who is responsible to a commissioner. Currently, there is one member per European Union member state, member state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the genera ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |