About the relevance of the concept of risk acceptability in the risk management process : a decisional approach in the French national context

International audienceA rapid view to the evolution of the legal context at the national European and international level shows a need to introduce both more "visibility" and more "legibility" on the way the decisions in risk analysis and risk management are taken. This can be introduced by: i) giving an image of what the scientific and the experts agree to be the technical "state of the Art" in there respective discipline to reduce and control hazardous activities; (ii) improving the way the population and the other stakeholders are involved and participate to the risk management process. In France, the Toulouse disaster has revealed a real need to improve the way decisions are taken in the risk prevention processes. In this paper, we will show how the establish concept of "risks acceptability" can induce bias on the way risk analysis are performed in the context of the hazard induced by industrial activities. We will show that there is a need to distinguish the acceptability known as "technical" from the one known as "social". We will then propose a new enlightenment on the way risk analysis are performed in Safety Studies and then discuss about the issue of land-use planning in France using "Risk prevention plans" (TRPP) around SEVESO sites

Contribution of organizational approach and decision aiding theory for assessing risks and benefits of outsourcing : implementing an action plan for contracts optimization in a company submitted to authorization

International audienceOutsourcing support activities in companies and industries is a key trend with core business strategy. This trend has increased with the hardening of the current financial crisis. The issue of outsourcing support is a major theme in the field of risk prevention. Even if, outsourcing is considered by Preventers as a key factor of risk, Managers still consider this solution as cost-effective and in some cases that subcontractors have more expertise. This paper will report on a methodology developed for studying the risks (financial, judicial, availability, safety) induced by outsourcing and the conclusion of a real case study performed in 2009 within a company submitted to authorization in order to optimize the management of outsourcing contracts. We will first analyze the state of the art about risks and benefits induced by outsourcing. A description of the company and the management's request will be described in a second time. We will then present our comprehensive methodological approach based on decision aiding framework and on the achievement of an organizational diagnosis to consider impact on working relationships and organizational conditions in managing outsourcing service delivery contracts. Finally, we will discuss the way our recommendations were taken into account by the management staff more than two years after proposing an action plan aiming at sustaining the quality and the performances of the services delivered to the Companie

La gestion du changement par la concertation : exemple de la mise en place d'un plan développement durable

National audienceOrganizations are facing new challenges raised by the implementation of the sustainable development principle. This paper points out the need to support organizational change in response to these Environmental Demands. New methods are proposed and discussed through a real case study of implementing a strategical plan for sustainable development within a public institute of expertise in the field of industrial environment and risks.Les Organisations font face à de nouveaux défis soulevés par la mise en application du principe de développement durable. Cet article offre une réflexion sur le besoin en accompagnement au changement des Organisations qui relèvent ces défis. Nous avons proposé une méthodologie basée sur une approche de type recherche-intervention. Cette méthodologie prend appuie sur de l'analyse organisationnelle et de l'aide multicritère à la décision. Pour finir, nous relaterons l'histoire d'un cas de mise en place d'un plan stratégique et d'un plan d'actions développement durable au sein d'un institut public d'expertise dans le domaine de l'environnement industriel et des risques

Knowledge management and major industrial hazards : an integrated approach

International audienceThe reflection that followed the Toulouse 2001 accident has stressed the fact that there was an urgent need for a coherent and trustable information about industrial hazards. This is true for the public who needs to be informed about the surrounding risks but it is also, and all the more, true for the industrial operators who have the responsibility to assess the risk and take the necessary provisions to reduce it, the workers who face the risk everyday and the competent authorities, in charge of the control. With this context in mind, INERIS is developing a series of tools for the knowledge management in the context of industrial major hazards. The aim is to make accessible the right information to the right person at the right moment. For this purpose, it is necessary to clearly analyze the needs of the different actors of industrial risks management and then to propose the structure of the system that will support and make the knowledge available. This paper presents the results of this preliminary analysis. It describes the first features of the system developed in the framework of this project, PRIMARSIK , and illustrates how it was built in a fully integrated approach of knowledge management. PRIMARSIK is not only a way to make different models and data available but it is also a way to provide the structure for future capitalization of the knowledge

Participative design of participation structures: a general approach and some risk management case studies

Organising participation of multiple stakeholders is nowadays a widespread request in decision processes, especially for organisations managing environmental risks. Therefore, analysts delivering decision support are expected to provide decision makers with scientifically sound andpractically realisable approaches regarding this issue. One of the main challenges in dealing with participation is the definition of the organisation, the so called participative structure, through which stakeholders will contribute and interact during the decision process. Who should participate when and according to which rules are the main questions to be answered. Stakes associated to this challenge are of extreme importance for decision makers since decision legitimacy and acceptance strongly relies on the ability to demonstrate a real transparency and information disclosure during the whole decision process.This paper proposes the iterative comparison approach as a new and original frame to be used by an analyst supporting a client dealing with such questions. Through an unambiguous definition of cognitive artefacts to be constructed when designing participative structures, this paper providesa clear framework that organises an analyst intervention in participative contexts. Furthermore, it offers the opportunity to design tailored participative structures that integrate context specificities in one hand, and satisfies quality criteria being fairness, competence and efficiency on the other hand

From expert judgement to decision-making in the major risk management process around SEVESO sites in France

International audienceSince the Toulouse accident (2001), the French Authorities have emphasized the position of the Safety Study in the risk management process. In this new context induced by the promulgation of the law n°2003-699 of 30 July 2003 about the "prevention of the technological and natural risks and to the compen-sation of the damages", the Safety Studies performed by the industrials is : a demonstration of the risk control ; a support to the urbanization control around Seveso sites using Technological Risk Prevention Plans TRPP. Different categories of actors, such as general manager, operators, contractors, central and local Ad-ministrations, associations, etc., are involved in the risk management process making it more complex. As a technical support to decision-makers in risk prevention from both public and private sectors, INERIS plays an important role in the evolution of the French risk prevention plan. This paper aims at revealing the differ-ent decisional and expertise problems faced during the Safety Study and the Technological Risk Prevention Plans

Using a multi-criteria decision aid methodology to implement sustainable development principles within an Organization

International audienceThe implementation of Sustainable Development (SD) within an Organization is a difficult task. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to deal with conflicting and incommensurable aspects such as environmental, economic and social dimensions. In this paper we have used a Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methodology to cope with these difficulties. MCDA methodology offers the opportunity to avoid monetary valuation of the different dimensions of the SD. These dimensions are not substitutable for one another and all have a role to play. There is an abundance of possible aggregation procedures in MCDA methodology. In this paper we have proposed an innovative method to choose a suitable aggregation procedure for SD problems. Real life case studies of the implementation of an outranking approach (i.e., ELECTRE) and of a mono-criterion synthesis approach (i.e., MAUT approaches based on the Choquet integral) were done to respectively rank 22 SD strategic actions within an expertise Institute and rank 20 practical operational actions to control energy consumption of the Institute's buildings

Towards an analytics and an ethics of expertise: Learning from decision aiding experiences in public risk assessment and risk management

Public expertise in safety, security and environment is a process that is increasingly submitted to control and transparency. It therefore requires an oversight, a monitoring and an aiding approach on its conduct and its governance. Difficulties learned from experiences in framing risk problems and sharing expertise conclusions and recommendations are pointed. Our practice of expertise has made clear to us that "expertise is a decision aiding process for a decision-maker which contains other decision aiding processes for the experts involved. To overcome this paradox, we argue on the need of a generic integrated framework for expertise that allows framing a valid and a legitimate expertise process and conclusions. Public expertise is then defined and mai

Constitution d'une échelle d'évaluation des dommages liés aux cavités souterraines. Une approche pluridisciplinaire d'aide à la décision

International audienceSoil subsidence following underground cavities collapse can cause severe losses. These losses must be evaluated as soon as the subsidence occurs or can be estimated before. Induced damage may outweigh direct losses at long term. Most of existent damage scales do not take in consideration these induced and indirect consequences that may occur. We suggest a new approach that analyses direct and induced effects of underground cavities collapses through a functional description of concerned area. We show how we can estimate direct damages to functions as well as their economical, social, political or mediatical impacts by means of a tool which can be used for decision-aid.Lorsque l'instabilité des cavités souterraines peut menacer des biens ou des personnes, il est nécessaire de réaliser de façon préventive une évaluation des dommages potentiels ainsi qu'une estimation rapide de ces mêmes dommages quand l'effondrement de ces cavités survient. La majorité des échelles de dommages existantes et utilisées ne prennent en compte que des dommages matériels, aux biens et aux personnes, aisément et rapidement accessibles. Néanmoins les dommages matériels reflètent insuffisamment l'importance d'un effondrement car les dommages induits peuvent être très importants. Pour rendre compte de ces dommages induits, nous proposons une approche dans laquelle les enjeux exposés sont non seulement des biens et des personnes mais aussi les fonctions que ces derniers assurent au sein de la collectivité. Nous suggérons ainsi une grille de lecture matricielle où figurent en ligne, les biens, les personnes, ainsi que les fonctions ou services et en colonne, les différents systèmes possibles d'évaluation de ces dommages (évaluation économique, politique, sociale, ...). Se dessine alors un outil pour la prévention et pour la gestion de crise permettant aux décideurs d'évaluer les dommages dus aux cavités souterraines. C'est le principe de cet outil que nous exposons dans cet article