Development and validation of three-step risk assessment method for ship recycling sector

Disposal of end-of-life vessels in an environmentally sound and safe manner is a major challenge today. In the present study an attempt has been made to develop a three-step risk assessment method - which offers a systematic pedagogic approach for the “analysis team” comprising of production managers, safety officers, safety supervisors and the designated expert monitor to reduce risks and enhance safety at ship recycling yards. The three-step risk assessment was performed in 35 ship recycling yards through questionnaire surveys and door-to-door communication. Thus, 35 data sets from field personnel at the ship recycling yards, each data set with 8 risk indexes (4 risk indexes each, before and after implementing corrective actions) were collected. In addition, 9 data sets were collected to document the perceptions of experts. In all, a total of 44 data sets were collected and used to validate the risk assessment method. Validation of the three-step method, essentially addresses the differences (or similarities) in “perception of risk” by several health, safety and environment (HSE) managers who volunteered for the risk assessment exercise. In order to validate the risk assessment method, three validation protocols were developed. Consistency check on the data sets was also performed and it was found that the relationship was linear with the slope close to unity. The example illustrating the application of Three Step Method in identifying and minimizing risks provides clear understanding for the users of this method. Evidently, the three-step risk assessment method developed in this research appeared to give consistent results in a variety of scenarios of validation.