Risk contours and risk management criteria for safety at major airports, with particular reference to the case of Schiphol

摘要

This paper is based on the experiences and practices of risk assessment at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands. Its structure follows roughly the 10 questions posed by the organisers of the EC-JRC Workshop on "Promotion of Technical Harmonisation on Risk Based Decision Making" (see "Preface" to this special issue). However, some liberties have been taken in shifting the order of the questions and combining some elements to make the paper flow more easily and logically. At the time of writing, formal, quantitative risk assessment appears not to have been used at many airports outside the Netherlands and the UK, though there are signs that other countries are planning such studies. Only occasional mention is made in the paper of assessment practices at other airports, since these fall outside my area of expertise. The main focus of this paper is on external safety in the context of land-use planning, but issues of safety to other actors in the airport system will be raised at intervals. Other risks, notably to health and quality of life, from large airports are raised at several points, but not dealt with comprehensively, since they are outside the scope of the paper. A recent study of the health effects of major airports (Health Council of the Netherlands, 1999) has considered the total picture of these other risks, including environmental pollution from fuels, stench, noise and visual effects, and occupational safety of those working at, or connected with the airport. That study deliberately limited itself to the area around airports, and hence excluded the environmental effects of high altitude flying (exhaust, greenhouse gases and ozone layer effects) as falling outside its remit.