Improving the defence-in-depth system
Improving the defence-in-depth system
To prevent serious, fatal and major technological accidents, we must anticipate situations that could have very serious consequences, and set up a defence system.
| The defence system |
For each potentially serious situation, we must devise a defense system that avoids accidents, or limits their consequences. The system is composed of 3 lines:
- prevention, to prevent hazard exposure
- recovery, to detect and recover from an event
- mitigation, to limit the consequences of an unwanted event.
These three lines of defence – which may be composed of technical barriers, rules and procedures, or human and organizational factors – can be seen as the ramparts that protect the company from an accident.
| Disruptive elements, fixes |
But beware! Barriers can be weakened by various chronic or one-off disruptive elements that arise from internal or external events. For example:
- low temperatures suddenly freeze safety equipment
- an urgent request from a customer suddenly changes the production schedule
- a manager neglects to pass on safety information to his or her team
The combination of several factors can be dangerous and lead to an accident. Identifying these disruptive elements is, therefore, crucial in order to set up appropriate fixes!
| The video summary |
A look at the key issues
Bruno Rodallec, Group Health and Safety Director, invites us to take a look at the risk of a serious accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, and the huge efforts that the company have made in recent years to reduce the accident rate.
