ABSTRACT
The terminology within the field of safety management and risk analysis is a minefield and even apparently simple terms like risk and safety can spark heated discussions. However, of more practical concern is the fact that the diverging definitions also create confusion among practitioners. When regulations, guidance, textbooks, and other material use the terms differently, it is not easy to navigate through this and understand what the different authors have meant. This confusion is increased by the fact that many authors do not define the terms that they are using. Risk and safety are two words that often are interchanged, even if they clearly do not mean the same thing. Risk is defined as the combination of the frequency and the severity of the consequence. Safety, on the other hand, is defined as absence of unacceptable levels of risk to assets that we value and want to preserve, such as life and health, the environment, and economical assets. Analysis of accidents is an important source to understand risk or lack of safety. Hazardous events can have a number of different causes that lead up to an accident and there are different consequences resulting from it. Safety management and risk management seem to be used more or less interchangeably too. Within the maritime community, safety management is the most commonly used term and is defined as coordinated activities aimed at fulfilling a set of safety policies and objectives.
