ABSTRACT
Risk-based design is a relatively new term in the maritime community and did not really come to the forefront in the industry until the SAFEDOR project and the outcomes from this project were available. Different terms are being used in different industries and applications to describe this concept. Initially when it was introduced, the term risk-based was commonly applied. However, in recent years, it has become more common to talk about risk-informed rather than risk-based. Risk assessment and thereby a good understanding of what may go wrong forms the basis, and the design is developed with information from this as additional input and constraints to the design process. An important difference from the traditional way of thinking is that risk is not seen as a constraint on the design, but rather that safety is an objective, along with other objectives like cost-efficiency and reliability. The implication of this is that safety still should meet minimum requirements, but that it also should be optimized beyond that. This chapter will first look at some relevant IMO documents and regulations that open up for use of risk assessment as a basis for approval of alternative designs. Secondly, a general process for risk-based design will be described, based on the SAFEDOR project. Finally, a brief introduction to some specific applications where risk assessment is used to support design is provided, namely risk-based damage stability and the safe return to port rule.
