Risk Acceptance Criteria and Regulatory Aspects 1

By applying any risk based inspection and maintenance strategy it is strictly necessary to understand what are the specific acceptance criteria and relevant regulatory aspects. In many situations accepted risk values are not given. This paper attempts to provide information on existing acceptance criteria. Amongst them are those governed by SHE-aspects (Safety, Health, and Environment) which are mainly consequence related, others governed by failure associated issues are reliability related, and others that are directly associated to risk. In addition, it is possible to introduce cost factors to assess economic aspects. If safety issues are included in the analysis, regulatory aspects will be concerned. Here, the influences of changing European attitudes are discussed, as well as the required depth and quality of risk analyses.