3. Risk Assessment

WARM UP

What do you know about your speciality? Is it important?

1. Vocabulary

risk assessment versus, prep. controversy, n the Board of Certified Safety Professionals an arm, n, здесь to be over emphasized flaws, n forensic engineering right-to-know laws caustic, n, a

техника безопасности, обеспечение безопасности против спор, дискуссия, полемика Ассоциация специалистов по технике безопасности (по охране труда) a branch, a division переоценивать недостатки судебная техника безопасности законы, доступные широкой общественности сарказм,саркастический, недружелюбный

2. Read and translate the text:

1. The very fundamental concept of risk assessment, which is the evaluation of the risks of some activity versus alternative methods, or versus the obtained benefits began in transportation safety. Engineers working there learned to prioritize highway-improvement expenditures by putting the money where it would do the most good – where there were the most frequent or the most severe accidents. Now this mode of analysis is being applied to the cleanup of hazardous waste sites (where, sometimes, risk assessment shows that it is safer to leave the contamination in place), to factory design, to situations involving the choice of chemical ingredients, and to many other applications.

2. Risk assessment has taken a much larger role in overall environmental policymaking. Risk assessment is not without controversy (the usual argument against it is that it can be used to justify no actions whatsoever on some environmental problems, since the cost is too high). But with better methodologies, the resources society commits to environmental improvements may be spent more wisely.

3. Safety engineering is taught at a limited number of schools, but it gains its identity more from professional societies and their members’ activities than from academic study. Students take courses in industrial engineering, and then obtain practical experience in industry or government. A variety of certification programs are available, such as the Certified Safety Professional, which is administered by the Board of Certified Safety Professional (an arm of the Safety of Safety Engineers).

4.These days, the importance of training as a safety function cannot be overemphasized. Manufacturers have come to realize that only through training will the majority of workers learn to use safe practices. Thus, a large part of the safety professional’s work is organizing or conducting training seminars for workers. Another part is the analysis of accidents that do occur, to trace origin back to flaws either in work practices or worked performance. This function is sometimes called forensic engineering.

5. Most large manufacturing plants have an in-house staff, which works in conjunction with security, fire protection, and health specialists. Safety professionals are employed at consulting firms, and by industrial insurance companies.

6. Community right-to-know laws have created another responsibility for safety professionals: conveying plans and information to local public officials and concerned citizens. In the aftermath of the Bhopal, India, accident of a Union Carbide Corporation subsidiary in 1984, in which thousands were killed by escaping toxic gas, these community-relations programs have taken on a much larger role. Good communication skills and a willingness to deal with sometimes caustic public opinion are necessary attributes for the safety professional employed in industry.

COMPREHENSION

1. Study the vocabulary and read the text.

Find information on:

1. the origin of the risk assessment concept;

2. the application of this mode of analysis at present;

3. risk assessment and environmental problems;

4. safety engineering training;

5. safety professionals and public opinion.

1. Look through the text once more and choose statements corresponding to the points above. Translate them and speak on the main points of the text.

2. Imagine you are invited to the conference at school to speak on your duties as a safety engineer. You are supposed to describe your job in detail and invite school leavers to become a safety professional.