Societal risk

HSE, on behalf of a range of government departments, carried out a public consultation exercise in 2007 on the inclusion of ‘societal risk’ in risk assessments concerning on-shore, non-nuclear, major hazards (CD212).  As a consequence of this consultation, HSE undertook work to investigate how government policies regarding development in the vicinity of on-shore non nuclear major hazard sites could take into account this societal risk.

HSE established two stakeholder groups to assist in examining methodologies, criteria and decision frameworks: 

• Technical Advisory Group.  This comprised two academic members, two industry members and one professional member, as well as representatives from other government departments.
• Local Planning Authority Focus Group.  A number of senior planners sat on this group, representing some of those planning authorities potentially affected by any new policies.

From December 2008 HSE undertook trials in three local planning authority areas.  The purpose of the trials was to test methods, criteria and decision-making and clarify the roles of the planning departments and others, in order to develop a format for clearly expressing societal risk calculations.

From research, the land-use-planning trials and input from the stakeholder groups HSE has arrived at positions on 23 issues raised by the 2007 public consultation.
Conclusions from research on scale aversion and proportion factors have been included in HSE guidance on ALARP decisions in COMAH.

A societal risk technical manual for possible land-use-planning purposes (framework plans around top societal risk sites) is currently being drafted to close out the technical work.

As yet there has been no Government decision to include local societal risk in land-use-planning advice in respect of major hazards.