TABLE OF CONTENTS 'QRA' is used as the abbreviation for 'Quantified Risk Assessment' or 'Quantitative Risk Analysis'. The context usually has to be considered in order to determine which of these two terms is applicable. Risk assessment involves (see Abbreviations, Page 555) risk analysis as well as an evaluation of the results. 'QRA' is one of the terms used for a type of risk assessment frequently applied to offshore operations. This technique is also referred to as:
Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)
Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)
Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA)
Concept Safety Evaluation (CSE)
Total Risk Analysis (TRA), etc.
In spite of more than two decades of use and development, no convergence towards a universally accepted term has been seen. QRA and TRA are the most commonly used abbreviations. The nuclear industry, with its origins in the USA, particularly favours the terms Probabilistic Risk Assessment or Probabilistic Safety Assessment.
Concept Safety Evaluation (CSE) has been used since 1981 in Norway and appears to have arisen as a result of risk assessment of new concepts. Total Risk Analysis (TRA), also originated in Norway as a term implying essentially a detailed fatality risk analysis.
It may be argued that all of these terms have virtually the same meaning. This book will concentrate on the term 'QRA' as an abbreviation for 'Quantitative Risk Analysis'. An alternative would be to use 'QRA' as an abbreviation for 'Quantitative Risk Assessment', the difference between these two expressions being that the latter includes evaluation of risk, in addition...
