Are too many safety measures crowding each other out?. (June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abrahamsen, Eirik Bjorheim; Moharamzadeh, Alireza; Abrahamsen, Håkon Bjorheim; Asche, Frank; Heide, Bjørnar; Milazzo, Maria Francesca
• Is Part Of: Reliability engineering & system safety. Volume 174(2018)
• Page Start: 108
• Page End: 113
• Publication Date: 2018-06
• Subjects: Safety measure -- Investment optimization -- Scarce resources -- Behavioural adaptation -- High risk industry -- Hazardous substance; Reliability (Engineering) -- Periodicals; System safety -- Periodicals; Industrial safety -- Periodicals; Fiabilité -- Périodiques; Sécurité des systèmes -- Périodiques; Sécurité du travail -- Périodiques; 620.00452
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2018.02.011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0951-8320

Abstract

Abstract: It is well known that investments in new safety measures do not always give the intended effect, as new safety measures are sometimes offset by behavioural changes. In this article, we show that another cause for a reduced effect is that competition for resources can lead new safety measures to crowd out existing measures; to demonstrate this, we use a case related to the unloading of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) at a warehouse. If this aspect is not taken into consideration, the effects of a single measure might be considered too high. An overinvestment in new safety measures might then occur.