Citation

Brooker P. Safety Sci. 2006; 44(7): 629-655.

Affiliation

Cranfield University, Building 83, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, United Kingdom (p.brooker@cranfield.ac.uk)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2005.12.005

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This is a critique of ESARR4 and its main supporting documents. ESARR4 is the Eurocontrol Safety Regulatory Requirement Number 4 [Eurocontrol safety regulatory requirement ESARR4, Edition 1.0., Eurocontrol, Safety Regulation Commission, Brussels, 2001]: `Risk assessment and mitigation in ATM', ATM standing for Air Traffic Management. It is demonstrated that ESARR4 and its supporting documents are defective. There is a lack of clarity about responsibilities for ATM safety. The claims ESARR4 etc. make for its proposed methodologies are overstated--not supported by sound evidence from real world hazard analysis. Serious negative effects from this defective document include mis-allocation of scarce safety resources and the diversion of attention away from real safety improvements--wasteful of regulators' and managers' time. Suggestions are made for repairing these deficiencies. The most important underlying change would be a refocusing on practical safety assessment based on methods that have already demonstrated their merits.