Joint ICE/Capita Symonds Safety Lecture 2009

Assessment of Risk: how much is ‘suitable and sufficient’?

Jean Venables OBE FREng FICE

President, Institution of Civil EngineersCrane Environmental

Wednesday 23 September 2009

The Institution of Civil Engineers

Jean VenablesOBE FREng FICE

President, Institution of Civil Engineers

Chairman, Crane Environmental

Assessment of Risk:how much is

‘suitable and sufficient’?

Structure

• Why the question?• Discussion of the issues• A way forward

‘Risk can be managed, minimised, shared, transferred or accepted; but it cannot be ignored.’

Sir Michael Latham: Constructing the team (1994)

Why the question?

• An HSE prosecution some years ago

• Criminally liable but not professionally negligent

Sources of information:

• Legislation: Acts and Regulations• Approved Codes of Practice• Codes of Practice• Best practice guidance

• Rules for Professional Conduct

Legislation:

• Suitable and Sufficient

• ALARP: As low as reasonably practicable

• SFARP: So far as is reasonably practicable

• Reasonably foreseeable

• (Grossly) disproportionate

Professional Conduct

6 Rules of Professional Conduct

..integrity;

..competent;

..full regard for the public interest, particularly in relation to matters of health and safety,....

Institution of Civil Engineers

• Professional Conduct Panel

• Disciplinary Board

• Appeal procedure

How to balance risk and sacrifice?

Risk Sacrifice

TimeEffortCost

InjuryIllnessDanger

Professional Judgement

• How to balance risk and sacrifice

• Exercised by both practitioners and HSE staff

• Can be wrong without being negligent

Compliance byconstruction professionals

• Innovation vs risk aversion

• How to cope with the complexity of definitions

Suitable and Sufficient, ALARP and SFARP

How can construction professionals be confident they have discharged their legal obligations?

Proportionate Disproportionate Grossly Disproportionate

COST / EFFORT / TIME

‘....we can’t go on with the ALARP system forever as it is becoming increasingly difficult to do anything.’

Ian Walmsley: Manifesto for rail,in Modern Railways (Sept 2009)

A Review of, and commentary on, the legal requirement to exercise a duty

‘so far as is reasonably practical’ with specific regard to designers in the

construction industry.ICE, May 2009, revised September 2009

ICE Discussion paper

• When enough is enough

• Are we obliged to make ‘disproportionate’ effort or continue to the point of ‘gross disproportion’

Boundaries, externalitiesand transferring risk

• Perceptions of risk

• Assessment of risk

• Where to draw the boundaries

• How to value costs and benefits

Professional Judgement

• Decisions have to be made despite the absence of all the facts

• Past risks and statistics can be a poor guide to future risks

• Climate change challenge needs innovation

What is different about construction?

• Different to processes and product manufacture

• Rarely any prototypes

• Almost all projects unique and vary daily

• Therefore no data for precisely similar situations

Construction Industry Designers

• What should they do?

• Can assume competent contractor

• But have no control over construction unless have further appointment

• When is enough?

Debate neededon the way forward

Procurement:

• Client’s leadership

• Anti-corruption procedures

Resolving Issues

• Involve all parties

• Reduce conflicting requirements

• Give practical advice

• SCOSS / CROSS

Conclusions

• Significant area of concern

• Needs case studies

• Civil engineering needs a system for sharing information

• No fault compensation?

‘Professional judgement is by far the most important tool in risk management...

...Formal risk assessment and evaluation of methods should be used as an aid to judgement, not as a substitute for it.’

The Engineering Council: Guidelines on risk issues (1993)

Thank you

Jean Venablesice.org.uk

crane-environmental.co.uk