For applications particularly - but not exclusively - related to Engineering, it is important to assess, quantify and manage risks and hazards within the (UK) legislative framework. The module will increase your awareness of the obligations of professional engineers in respect of risk and hazard assessment, whilst developing your skills in identifying and evaluating risks/hazards in an engineering and legislative context. Watershed case studies from several industrial sectors are drawn upon, and the difference between proactive and reactive risk introduced. 

Whilst this module is based around assessment of technical risks and hazard from the energy sector - particularly fire and explosions – these approaches are considered for broader challenges such as climate change, financial and environmental risk, through a series of lectures from external professionals.   

LO1. Understand the roots of current UK safety regulation from its historical development, and demonstrate a full understanding of differences between proactive/reactive risk management. 

LO2. Provide a systematic risk analysis of fatal accidents.   

LO3. Apply recognised methods for systematically identifying hazards (‘Hazard Identification’). 

LO4. Appreciate/understand the differences between levels of hazard quantification techniques, and be able to apply different levels of methods to evaluate a particular hazard. 

LO5. Evaluate risk using industry standard techniques (QRA - FTA, ETA). 

LO6. Appraise the possible extension of technical risk methodologies to broader risks such as climate change, financial or environmental risk.  

The module will be delivered through a blend of face-to-face teaching (such as lectures, guided study, tutorials, and formative feedback sessions), and online learning material (such as recorded lectures, quizzes, numerical examples and sample tutorial problems). These are used to explain the basic principles, promote self-study and research, and help you apply knowledge and understanding. 

You are expected to devote a minimum of three hours per week to private study and attempting a variety of examples and case studies as an individual or within small groups, which then form the basis of the example / tutorial classes. 

​Within this module you will develop the following employability skills: 

• Effective communication, e.g. group presentations of watershed case studies. 

• Independent and critical thinking, e.g. categorising accidents; appropriate application of various levels of models; proposing risk trees.  

• Environmental awareness, e.g. air quality in aerospace, climate change risk management.   

• Apply models for risk analysis and hazard quantification. 

• Commercial awareness: lecture on insurance industry, and external lecture (Arthur D. Little consultants) 

• Collaborative working: Analysis of small engineering systems/projects and integrate satisfactorily within a legislatively defensible risk and hazard framework. 

The module is assessed by a two-hour examination (LO 1-6) at the end of the semester. The exam paper consists of compulsory section A (50%) - which examines the breadth of your learning - and of section B (50%) in which 2 out of 3 questions must be answered and which will further examine your depth of understanding and problem solving skills.  

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE: 

The re-assessment for this module will consist in a 2-hour written examination. 

Opportunities for re-assessment is only permitted provided you have not failed more credit than in the resit rule adopted by your programme. If the amount of credit you have failed is more than permitted by the relevant resit rule, you may be permitted to repeat study if you are within the threshold set for the Repeat rule adopted by your programme. You will be notified of your eligibility to resit/repeat any modules after the Examining Board in the Summer period.  

All resit assessments will be held in the Resit Examination period, prior to the start of the following academic session. 

• Introduction 

• Definitions, nomenclature (COSHH, HAZOP, DSEAR, etc..  

• Chartered Engineering Obligations 

• Safety and Loss Prevention 

• Watershed Incidents/safety case studies from difference sectors (e.g. Senghenydd, Windscale, Flixborough,…) 

• Historical Perspective 

• Legislation, Law and Insurance 

• Legal Framework, Cullen Enquiry, HASAWA,  The Health & Safety Executive 

• EU Directives and post BREXIT 

• Economics of Loss Prevention, including insurance 

• Cost of Losses and Prevention 

• Hazard Identification & Safety Audit 

• Methods for Hazard Identification : What If?; Fault/Evant tree Analysis; HAZOP, refer to FMEA 

• Audits/Management Systems 

• Hazard Indices 

• Hazard Quantification 

• General Hazard Modelling Approaches: Empirical Tools; Computational (Numerical) Codes; Phenomenological Models 

• Explosion Hazard categorisation  

• Fire Hazard categorisation 

• Explosion Hazard Modelling : TNT-approach; phenomenological; CFD 

• Variety of modelling approaches for different category of fires : Jet Fire, Pool fire, BLEVE, etc.. 

• Quantified Risk Assessment (QRA) 

• Hazard Elimination or mitigation 

• Techno-economic models for management of global climate change.