Integrated safety planning for underground systems

Underground systems are becoming increasingly popular for business activities, transportation systems, and storage purposes. Safety planning for underground systems calls for an integrated approach which considers the interests of many parties, the dynamics of different activities, and the potential threats posed by hazardous materials. A visual interactive modeling approach is presented which helps organizations to derive a safety concept for underground systems. The modeling approach emphasizes procedural aspects of dealing with multiple parties, as well as conceptual and analytic aspects of assessing risks and defining safety goals. The paper summarizes the framework for developing a safety concept for underground systems which was developed for the Dutch Ministry of the Interior. A hypothetical example is discussed to illustrate the theoretical constructs.