Acceptable risk is what? Concept and concept

Every person, daily, consciously or not, is at risk. He is completely objective and accompanies almost any activity. People risk, overcoming dangers in everyday life, in transport, in production. Let's consider the concept of acceptable risk.

General information

Risk is a measure of the expected trouble, failure, the risk of adverse consequences for a person. It also includes certain phenomena, the occurrence of which contains the probability of material losses. With the term "risk" are connected worldview (conceptual) approaches to the safety of life and activities. In the process of development of the technological sphere, man's awareness of the nature of threats was considered from different points of view.

Main Approaches

First of all, we should note the concept of absolute security, or "zero risk." This approach is known as the theory of maximum reliability. According to it, it is assumed that the necessary material costs for the training of personnel, protective equipment, as well as strict control over the implementation of the established rules and norms, will ensure complete safety. There is also a deterministic approach, or the concept of normal accidents. This theory was developed in the 80 years of the last century in some countries. Among them, in particular, Great Britain, the Netherlands, the USA. Currently, this approach is being actively developed in many countries. Within the framework of this theory, it is recognized that it is impossible to provide absolute security. The concept involves considering the risk of major disasters with serious consequences. The third, combined approach recognizes the inevitability of accidents, but at the same time implies their minimization based on in-depth analysis of threats in the design of systems, as well as priority financing of security measures, strict implementation of laws, regulations and rules.

A deterministic approach

It is based on the concept of acceptable risk. Within the framework of the theory, the threat, on the one hand, corresponds to an almost achievable degree of safety. In other words, the danger is as low as possible. On the other hand, an acceptable risk is a reasonably achievable level of security in terms of the expenditure-income balance sheet. This theory can be expressed in simple words. Safety in a deterministic approach is as much as a person is willing to pay for it.

Traditional theory

It was based on the desire for "complete security". The essence of the theory consisted in the implementation of measures to eliminate any threat emanating from technology, the introduction of all practicable protective measures. At the present time, mankind has come to understand that total security is unattainable or will be associated with huge and often unjustified expenses. Moreover, the requirements of the traditional approach, despite the humanity of the goals, turn out to be a real tragedy for people. This is due to the fact that it is impossible to provide zero threat in today's working systems. Therefore, a person should assume the likelihood of danger.

The content of the concept of acceptable risk

From the late 70's and 80's. The last century in the industrialized countries in the framework of research related to security, began a gradual abandonment of the theory of complete security. If the scientists working at that time could be asked: "Explain the content of the concept of acceptable risk," they would explain that the essence of the approach is to reduce the threat to the extent that society takes in a specific time frame.

Indicators

At the present time, the amount of acceptable risk for an activity is revealed. It is an indicator of the degree of danger with which society at a given stage of its development can reconcile. In other words, an acceptable level of risk of death, disability, injury to people does not affect the safety of the enterprise, the economic sector or the entire state as a whole. At the same time, the opposite indicator is derived. Unacceptable risk is the level at which it is necessary to take measures to eliminate the hazard. Some factors that cause long-term dangerous consequences do not have a threshold of action. If they start to affect only if the norms are exceeded (for example, the admissible concentration of the compound), the maximum acceptable risk will correspond to this threshold. For an ecosystem, this is the state in which at least 5% of the biogeocenosis can be affected. Admissible (acceptable) risk is 2-3 times "stricter" than the actual one, that is, its introduction is directly aimed at ensuring human protection.

Specificity

Acceptable risk is a limit that is established taking into account political, economic, social and technical aspects. It is a definite compromise between the required degree of security and the possibilities of achieving it. Any society has limited resources. If you invest an unjustifiably large amount of funds in activities aimed at reducing the technical threat, the financing of social, economic and other spheres will decrease. In other words, with increasing security costs, the threat will decrease. However, at the same time, social and economic risk will grow. The aggregate threat curve will have a minimum with a certain ratio between investment in the social and technical spheres. Defining an acceptable risk, this must be taken into account.

Safety Criteria

Within the framework of the theory, some characteristics of technology have been developed that determine acceptable individual risk and the degree of threat to society as a whole. These criteria include:

1. The mathematical probability of damage is not more than 1% of the public expenditure on the creation, use and liquidation of the facility. This indicator characterizes an acceptable risk for society.
2. The probability of severe trauma or death is not higher than the domestic damage from accidental negative factors. This criterion is established for a person from the population.
3. The likelihood of a health threat is no greater than for less dangerous occupational occupations. This criterion is set for the staff.

Principles

The definition of indicators to which an acceptable risk corresponds is a special policy of the state and society, which is based on a number of fundamental provisions. The key principles of its implementation include:

1. Establishment of qualitatively new goals and tasks of security. In particular, we are talking about the transition from a policy of complete elimination of the threat, aimed exclusively at improving the technosphere, towards indicators aimed at improving the state of the environment, the health of every citizen and society as a whole.
2. Development of methods for the quantitative analysis of hazards based on the methodology of risk research.
3. Reorient the safety monitoring system. In particular, this refers to the transition from concentration on threatening factors to monitoring their impact on public health and the environment. At the same time, control over negative conditions must be maintained.
4. Development of ways to determine the permissible balance between threats and benefits from a particular type of activity. These methods should be based on an assessment of public preferences, existing economic opportunities and their environmental constraints.

Specificity of implementation

The degree of introduction of the concept in the countries of the world today is different. In some states, it is enshrined in legislation. For example, in the Netherlands, it was adopted by the parliament in 1985 and elevated to the rank of a normative act. This country is considered as an example of a state in which probabilistic approaches are most widely used in practical activities related to ensuring the safety of citizens in the operation of production facilities. In other countries, for example, in Japan, Canada, etc., the scope of the concept is more limited. However, in all countries there is a tendency to expand the scope of its application. As for Russia, the acceptable risks are much higher than those taken in other states as unacceptable.

Negligible degree of threat

At this level of risk, it is considered that further safety enhancement measures are inappropriate. This position is due to the fact that subsequent activities will require significant costs. In this case, the environment and the population will in any case be exposed to almost the previous risk due to the impact of other factors. Along with this, there is a maximum degree of threat. This indicator can not be exceeded, regardless of the amount of costs. Between these levels is the area within which it is necessary to reduce the risk by finding a compromise between financial losses and social benefits.

Conclusion

Within the framework of the theory of acceptable risk, improving the quality of life of all citizens is substantially limited. This is due to the fact that, when implemented, public utility (benefit) from advanced technologies is not taken into account, which at the initial stages may be accompanied by increased danger for those who implement them. This causes their rejection in society. Meanwhile, new technologies are still mastered by man and used as a means of survival and the subsequent improvement of the quality of life. In this connection, the safety theory of the population, together with the concept of an acceptable threat, should use the theory of justified risk. In accordance with it, the indicator of danger that is appropriate for society is considered optimal. The safety of directly risking citizens at a particular stage of scientific and technological progress can not be ensured at an acceptable level. In this regard, these members of society should receive economic compensation. They can be expressed in kind or in cash. Due to this, if not decreases, then, in any case, the effect of negative factors is smoothed out.