ABSTRACT
As noted earlier, SPRAT is an essentially “homeostatic” approach to risk management. In such a control system (according to Dunsire 1990,1992), a pre-set datum line, defined as “acceptable risk”, marks the preferred goal of management, and negative feedback mechanisms (inspectorates, hotlines, reporting and surveillance systems) are set up to compare the state of the system with the datum line and to make changes as the system starts to swing off-limits. Unlike direct steering systems (in which power is used directly to correct deviations from the desired state; Dunsire 1992:24), homeostatic control systems separate the process of policy-setting, monitoring and active intervention to correct deviation. Like the marine self-steering devices that have replaced the traditional helmsman, they need to involve a high degree of self-regulation.
