TABLE OF CONTENTS R DIGER RACKWITZ
Institut fuer Baustoffe und Konstruktion
Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Arcisstr. 21
D - 80290 Muenchen, Germany
E-mail: rackwitz@mb.bv.tum.de
This contribution reports about some recent developments in setting up rational public risk acceptability criteria for technical facilities exposed to natural or man-made hazards. The life quality index is chosen as basis for modern economic considerations. The societal value of a statistical life and the corresponding willingness-to-pay are presented.
The public requires safety from technical installations and natural environment if human life is at risk. Traditionally, risk acceptance criteria are implicit in codes of practice, standards or regulations since well-defined fields of application are calibrated against past and present practice. This is all but satisfying. Not only is it unclear whether present rules are already optimal, extrapolations into new fields of application are also extremely difficult due to a missing rational basis. From many empirical studies it is known that the efforts spent in saving a life in different areas by different interventions vary from a few hundred US$ to more than a hundred million US$ just by illustrating the unpleasant situation. The public must require that criteria for setting limits should be uniform, affordable and efficient.
The following considerations are valid only for public reduction of involuntary risks of an anonymous member of society. Attributes like life expectancy, age, work and leisure time, income and consumption will be incorporated. Risk reduction is a primary concern of society, but it is not the only one as it generally involves...
