EGN4034 FALL 2008 DR. G.HASKINS RISK and LIABILITY in ENGINEERING.
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Transcript of EGN4034 FALL 2008 DR. G.HASKINS RISK and LIABILITY in ENGINEERING.
EGN4034 FALL 2008DR. G.HASKINS
RISK and LIABILITY in ENGINEERING
Engineer’s Approach to Risk
Risk = Probability * Magnitude of harm
Harm = Invasion or limitation of a person’s freedom or well-being
Harm may be difficult to quantify (loss of life)
Acceptable Risk
Risk/Benefit AnalysisAR=P*M (of harm) ≤ P*M (of benefit)
Utilitarian Approach
Risk/Benefit Analysis LimitationsUnanticipated effectsQuantification difficulties (loss of life)
Inequitable distribution (risk/benefits)
Lack of informed consent
Public’s Approach to Risk
Respect for Persons Approach (rather than Utilitarian)
Informed consent Non-coerced Informed Competence to evaluate
Equity Benefits & harms equitably distributed
Public’s Approach to Risk
AR= free & informed consent+ just distribution
May substitute appropriate compensation for either of the above
Government Regulator’s Approach to Risk
AR= protecting public from harm > benefiting the public
Communication
Engineers, public and regulators have different approaches to risk
Important for engineers to take these other approaches into account when communicating “risk” to public
Risk Assessment in Practice
Involves an uncertain assessment of the probability of harm
Fault tree (fig. 7.1) Begin with undesirable event Reason back to events that might have
caused this Systematic of failure modes
Risk Assessment in Practice
Event Tree Analysis (fig. 7.2) Reason forward to examine consequences
of event Probability= product of probabilities in legs
of diagram
Limitations Unanticipated problems Human error Conjectural probablities
Tight Coupling & Complex Interactions
Tight Coupling Time is of the essence
Complex Interactions System parts may interact in unanticipated
ways
TC+CI Unanticipated failures with little time to
correct Boiler explosion NYTel
Normalizing Deviance
Increasing allowable deviation from proper standards of safety and acceptable risk
Liability for Risk
Tort Liability (standard of proof) Preponderance of the evidence ∆ violated legal duty π suffered injuries ∆’s violation of duty caused π’s injuries ∆’s violation of duty was proximate cause of π’s injuries
SOP < scientific SOP < criminal SOP