Experience with the use of risk assessment in IMO

摘要

In the maritime industry the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is the UN organisation responsible for developing international safety and environmental protection regulations. IMO has recently developed the second version of "Guidelines for FSA for use in the IMO rule making process" available as circulars both from the Marine Safety Committee (MSC) and the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC). This standard is, as far as the author knows, the first risk assessment standard adopted in an UN organisation. As there have been some attempts to develop internationally accepted risk assessment and risk management standards, the paper try to describe some of the experience and lessons learned from implementing FSA in IMO. The work with developing the guidelines is briefly reviewed. Some concepts used in the first version of the guidelines, e.g. the regulatory impact diagram resulted in a lot of controversies, and have subsequently been removed. Similarly the questions of risk acceptance and transparency have been subject to considerable debate and controversy. Paralleling the development of the guidelines there have been a number of applications of the guidelines, recently focusing on bulk carrier safety. Relevant studies have been carried out by UK, by Japan, by Norway and International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and by International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). These studies will be briefly reviewed with respect to methods used, assumptions made and conclusions drawn. The entire process from the initial terms of reference was formulated by IMO to the final decisions is briefly reviewed. The final decision making took place at the MSC meeting early in December 2002. The main conclusion is that the maritime industry has made a lot of progress, quite fast in the use of risk assessment for use in the decision making process. This being the case, despite the many communication problems that arises in discussing risk issues in international forums. Furthermore, the FSA has helped balancing the often-conflicting interest of the flag states and non-governmental organisations present in IMO.