10. Tenth Lesson: Ethics in Risk Assessment

Engineering ethics is an important but sensitive subject across all industries, ensuring the technical analyses align with societal values, justice, and long-term safety. This lesson concentrates on ethics in risk assessment, starting by elucidating its necessity. Then, the lesson discusses the ethical implications of risk analysis and risk tolerance criteria (RTC) in the planning processes of hazardous facilities, based on a Norwegian case study involving a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in populated areas. The Norwegian approach to risk-informed planning of hazardous facilities is outlined. Following this, the Norwegian case study and the main characteristics of the risk-informed decision-making in this case are presented. On this basis, the Norwegian approach to applying risk analysis and RTC is discussed, along with ethical challenges for enterprises, consultants, and authorities. Lastly, the potential misuse of risk analysis is discussed and highlighted. Among the ten lessons presented in this book, this final lesson holds the utmost importance, as it seeks to cultivate a heightened awareness among readers regarding their own ethical responsibilities and obligations.