2. Challenges and developments in operational safety

2.1 The challenges of dependability

For several decades, operational safety has been defined as the science of failures. However, in order to reduce risks to a level as low as possible and acceptable to public opinion, new scientific methods, techniques and tools have been developed to assess potential risks, predict the occurrence of failures and attempt to minimize the consequences of catastrophic situations when they do occur. Dependability is known by the acronym RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety). Other industry names use the term "risk analysis" (in the oil industry) and cyndinics for the science of danger. Together, these scientific methodological developments form the discipline of operational safety. In the broadest sense of the term, operational...