ABSTRACT
The intention of risk analysis is not simply to provide a measure of the level of risk, to compare against some criterion. It is also the intention of risk analysis to provide a basis against which decisions can be made regarding the optimal configuration of systems, and regarding the choice as to which safety systems should receive the most attention. It is clear that if (for example) gas detection is much more effective at risk reduction than is process blowdown, then relatively more of the available resources should be assigned to the gas detection system. This may be an arbitrary example, but it is this sort of decision process that the results of risk analyses should be able to assist. Such decisions can clearly only be made using risk analysis if the results are based on modelling that takes correct account of the effect of the systems being considered.
