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4. Opportunities for Enhancing Safety and Protecting Values
Pages 27-34

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From page 27...
... AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY Nine phases in the facility life cycle represent particular opportunities for application of risk analysis to enhance achievable safety.
From page 28...
... Serious losses associated with human error and faulty practices during construction indicate that facility owners, insurers, and code officials should press for greater attention to the impact on safety of constructable designs, preparation of clear and unambiguous plans and specifications, and construction inspection. Risk analysis can serve as a framework for estimating this impact, guiding quality control and assurance efforts, and assuring that risks are not unnecessarily increased by actions taken during construction.
From page 29...
... While perceptions of risk vary from person to person and among groups of people, the process of assessing and judging risk seems to enhance the public's ability and willingness to make informed decisions about difficult questions involving risk. More effective communication regarding the risks in and around buildings and the costs of limiting these risks will help public policy-makers to respond appropriately to demands for action following serious losses.
From page 30...
... Loss experience, a part of the basis for this judgment, depends on costs and a variety of factors not directly related to technical risks. In contrast to the focused roles of agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board or the Food and Drug Administration, there is no national regulatory focus for data gathering and analysis of the broader range of building-related risks.
From page 31...
... For example, the ANSI A58.1 standard on design loads35 provides a basis for designing typical or average facilities, but offers little information for designing unusual facilities, or for dealing with safety issues related to low-probability hazards. Government agencies also might play a role in fostering necessary data collection.
From page 32...
... 1989; GSA, 1988~. Such currently active data collection programs as the National Fire Incidence Reporting System, activities administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Safety Council, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and loss reporting activities of agencies such as the Navy, Department of Energy, and General Services Administration could be combined or expanded to support comprehensive risk analysis.
From page 33...
... Newly identified risks that are poorly presented may foster public dismay and hasty responses that can distort public policy and regulatory practice.38 Taxpayers and voters may lack a broadly understandable baseline against which to judge acceptable risk and achievable safety. 37Legal liability sometimes makes policy makers and facilities managers reluctant even to consider that some level of risk is unavoidable and acceptable.
From page 34...
... The work of the principal national model codes organizations is generally open to public involvement, but building code officials and building products manufacturers are currently the principal participants in those forums, and code changes often are proposed by trade associations and may have economic motivations. Similarly, adoption of official local building codes typically entails public hearings, but the general public often is poorly prepared to deal with the technical issues of facility design and construction.


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