Risk-based regulation of technical risks: lessons learnt from case studies in Switzerland

In administrative law, various regulation strategies are used to limit technical risks. Frequently, their approach is deterministic. Risk-based regulation seeks to make law more efficient as well as more transparent. Its aim is to replace prescriptive, deterministic regulations by goal-oriented, probabilistic regulations, based on the criteria of cost-effectiveness and limitation of individual risks. The overall goal is to achieve more safety at less cost. The project 'Risk-Based Regulation' (1996-99) was intended to evaluate the feasibility of the approach from both technical and legal perspectives in the Swiss context. Nine case studies were carried out: storage and management of explosives (both military and civil), occupational safety, non-occupational accident prevention (mainly road accidents), fire protection, transportation of dangerous goods, waste disposal (conventional toxic landfills and radioactive repositories), and nuclear (reactor) safety. This paper summarizes final results of the case studies and draws general conclusions on the possibilities and limitations of implementing a risk-based approach. Its findings should be useful in formulating standardized approaches as envisaged by the European Commission under the heading of a 'Compass for Risk Analysis' (EC-JRC, 2000), and the safety guidelines of the so-called 'Swiss Agency for Technical Safety' (SATS), a new institution to be set up in Switzerland to integrate all federal regulatory bodies dealing with technical risks.