Safety analysis has become a methodology that is applied to a growing extent in technologically advanced fields such as chemicals processing and nuclear industries. There it has become an important tool for obtaining safer production, but in terms of the number of people killed and injured, occupational accidents constitute a much greater problem area. There is also a need to apply systematic, tested approaches in this field. The aim of this book is to show how safety analysis can be practically applied in the field of occupational safety. Its emphasis lies on explaining how different methods work and it gives step-by-step instructions. The main focus is on qualitative (and rather simple) methods. Safety analysis has three main elements: identification of hazards; assessment of the risks that arise; and the generation of measures that can increase the level of safety. Experiences from its application are favourable. With a suitable design, an analysis that takes just a few hours or a few days can give good results. One theme concerns the analytical procedure - that is, the various stages that make up an analysis and how these are related to one another.
Safety work and safety management represents a further theme, and one section fo the book is devoted to economic appraisals of safety analysis. A number of examples are provided as demonstrations of applications and of results. They also show that the methodology tends to be profiable for companies to use. The book has been written primarily with safety engineers and the Labour Inspectorate in mind, but it should also be of interest to anyone involved in occupational injury prevention.