Citation

Hale AR. Safety Sci. 2001; 37(2-3): 127-149.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper reviews the attempts made in the last decade to regulate large airport safety, taking the Schiphol airport of Amsterdam as a case. It uses as a departure point the concerns raised by the crash of the El Al Boeing in 1992 and traces the responses to the issues of safety and other health effects by regulators and the airport authorities. The objective is to illustrate the dilemmas and some possible approaches in regulating a rapidly growing and economically important activity, embedded in a complex technology. In particular it addresses the use of an inter-organisational safety management system to provide better guarantees for safety assurance. The paper is presented in the form of a critical description of the steps taken towards such new regulatory approaches. It takes as a viewpoint the Advisory Committee on Safety for the airport, which has an external monitoring and advisory role to the responsible minister.