Risk assessment in the Netherlands

Abstract

The Dutch approach to risk assessment is defined in the National Plan for Environmental Protection Policy (NMP) of 1988. The goal is the present and future protection of humans, animals, plants, the ecosystem, and property through measures designed to provide for a sustainable development. The safety goals are defined in Premises for Risk Management, an annex to the NMP, in 1989. Safety goals are determined with quantitative values. Maximum permitted risks are differentiated from negligible risks. Risks that fall between these two values must be reduced to a negligible level within one generation (ALARA-principle). The safety thresholds for existing and new hazards are also differentiated. Hazards include stationary installations, transport systems (road, rail, water, and air transport), hazardous substances (chemical, radioactive), and genetically-altered organisms. The two most important criteria for risk assessment are the individual probability of death and the probability of death for groups. Although quantitative safety goals have been defined for other criteria such as ecosystems, noise pollution, and odor nuisance, they have little effect in practice. Criteria which are deliberately left out include injured persons, financial-economic damages, damages to plants by radioactivity, and different reductions in activities.