5.4. Stage 3

Stage 3 is characterised by improvement in risk assessment by more systematic application in areas such as design, planning, procedure development and post investigation. Methods of risk assessment might be expanded from basic techniques such as JSA and WRAC to more detailed methods such as Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP) for a process design review and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) or Bow Tie Analysis (BTA) for in-depth consideration of specific site issues.

At Stage 3; the focus may still be on the investigation based on actual outcome but in this stage the need to examine near-hits more extensively should begin to appear.

The site should have established expectations for inspecting, monitoring and auditing that exceed regulatory compliance. These three activities should start to be systematically linked to plans.