European Master and Certification Program
in Risk Engineering and Management

I-R01 INTRO
Introduction to Risk Management

Course code: 136468 (SEM)
Language of instruction: English
Duration of the course: 5 days (45h)
Lecturers: Dr. Marko Gerbec (Josef Stefan Institute), Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Dr. h.c. Ortwin Renn (Universität Stuttgart (ZIRIUS))
Assessment: Written Exam Transfer Paper [optional topic for Project Study Paper]

Short description

The course covers the main topics of industrial safety, starting with different aspects of risks and terminology used in the field. The main part of the course is dedicated to the related EU directives and their application in industry. The course outlines goals, scope and required measures / obligations considering acute (e.g. accidents-related) and chronic (e.g. pollution-related) risks. Special attention is devoted to major accident prevention and related process safety risk assessment methodologies.

Objectives

At the end of the course students are expected to have basic knowledge about:

  • general terms used in the area of risk, safety, hazard, risk and risk assessment...
  • respective EU regulation/directives such as REACH, Seveso II, ATEX, and the obligations resulting from them
  • main elements of the process safety assessment (input data, hazards identification methods and tools, scenario elaboration and assessment of related risks…), including major accidents prevention policy
  • safety measures, based on regulatory requirements, as implemented in the different EU member states.
As an option, the course covers the issues of risk perception and risk communication and tackles the method of stakeholder involvement in technical risk management.

Target Attendees / Participants

As introductory, the course is dedicated to the wide range of participants, such as:

  • professionals dealing with risk issues on management or operation level
  • individuals with no previous experience in the field of risk management, but willing to extend their knowledge and take up new roles in risk management in their companies
  • students of Steinbeis Master of Risk Engineering and Management program and similar programs.

Course Content by Units

The course will cover the following units:

Unit 1:

Introduction to industrial safety issues (process safety, occupational safety, environmental protection, consumer safety)

  • explanation on different aspects of the term safety
  •  topics of REACH, Occupational safety and health, including Atex, ADR and Seveso
240 min
Unit 2:

Historical overview and introduction to safety in industry

  • overview of infamous industrial accidents with hazardous substances
  • lessons learn from the experience
  • major accident hazards
  • response of the society, legislation introduced (explanation of obligations
180 min
Unit 3

Introduction to obligations within Seveso II directive

  • lower & upper tier establishment
  • MAPP, SMS - on all 7 demands
  • Safety report - its operational use
  • emergency planning (internal/external)
  • land use planning requirements
  • information to the public
  • roles of the competent authorities (CAs)4
90 min
Unit 4:
Introduction to the process safety risk assessment -overview of the main steps
  • understanding of the process under analysis
  • required site and surroundings data, relevant properties of the hazardous substances (including R and S phrases)
  • hazard identification methods and tools
  • hazard classification approaches
  • scenarios elaboration
  • assessment of consequences (source term conditions elaboration,modeling, domino potential evaluation)
  • assessment of scenario's likelihood (introduction to probabilities,how to consider branching of events and safety measures ...)
450 min
Unit 5: Review of main course issues and preparation for the final exam 180 min
Unit 6: Final exam 90 min

 

Optional units:

Unit 1A:

Risk Governance: Analysis, perception and communication

  • Introduction to Risk Governance
    • The IRGC risk governance model: Purpose and structure
  • Risk Perception and Concern Assessment
    • Why is risk perception important?
    • How do people respond to threats? 
    • How can we deal with risk perceptions
  • Risk communication
    • How to be effective in risk communication?
    • How to respond to different types of audiences? 
    • What are the main problems in communicating risk and uncertainty
  • Stakeholder involvement and participation
    • What are the best strategies to involve stakeholders and the public?
    • What methods for stakeholder participation are effective for regulating technical risks?
60 min
Unit 4A: Corporate responsibility and industrial risks: Mandatory requirements, common practice and trends 90 min

Teaching Methods

The course   

  • is illustrated by number of examples,
  • presents commonly used methods and tools, and
  • provides exercises and preparation for the final exam.

Literature

  1. Textbook:
    Introduction to Risk and Safety Management in Industry
    Version 2, September, 2009
  2. Transparencies:
    Unit 1: Introduction to industrial chemical safety issues
    Unit 2: Historical overview and Introduction to process safety in industry
    Unit 3: Introduction to obligations within Seveso II directive
    Unit 4: Introduction to the process safety risk assessment -overview of the main steps
  3. Certification material, Version 4, March 2011
  4. Additional material:
    DIRECTIVE 2008/1/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 January 2008
    concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC)
    REGULATION (EC) No 1907/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 December 2006
    concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
    COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 96/82/EC of 9 December 1996 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances


For more information about the European Master and Certification Program in Risk Engineering and Management in general, go the Homepage.
For more information about the European Master Program in Risk Engineering and Management in general, go the Master Study page.
To see more courses in the curriculum, go to The curriculum page, or by date and topic go to the Calendar of Courses page.
Contact: via email sti889@risk-technologies.com or phone +49 711 1839 781 or +49 711 1839 647
(Course profile ID: I-R01, generated on March 29, 2024)