Beyond Harm

Beyond Harm, produced by HazTechRisk.org, explores the intersection of risk management, economic systems, and safety standards within public and regulatory domains. It critiques probabilistic risk assessments, financial prioritization over safety, and discusses systemic changes needed across diverse sectors like nuclear energy, water safety, and aviation.

Risk Management Economic Systems Safety Standards Regulatory and Government Oversight Environmental Justice Infrastructure Safety Nuclear Energy Water Safety Aviation Safety Public Health

The hottest Substack posts of Beyond Harm

And their main takeaways

Bretton Woods, Mont Pèlerin and Safety

0 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
🌍 World Politics Globalization Policy Economics Environment Inequality
  1. Financialization has led to the prioritization of capital over people in economic systems.
  2. Efficiency in production has often come at the cost of safety and risk transfer.
  3. The economic ideologies from conferences like Bretton Woods and Mont Pèlerin have shaped a system that values capital over safety and people, prompting reflection on potential changes.

Revisiting, A new FAA safety standard?

0 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Regulation Safety Aviation
  1. The National Transportation Safety Board points out that air travel is generally safer than automobile travel, highlighting the importance of evaluating safety standards in the aviation industry.
  2. Regulators in the aviation sector need to focus on proactive risk management and conducting thorough root cause analyses to prevent fatal accidents in the future.
  3. It's crucial for regulators to not overlook warning signs or design deviations in aircraft safety, emphasizing the need for a more cautious approach to maintaining safety standards.

The (real) Price of Water

0 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
  1. Sewerage treatment is vital to protecting drinking water supplies.
  2. Economic externalities can lead to market failures and government intervention.
  3. Upgrading water protection systems is crucial, but funding and political challenges exist.

Drinking the Kool Aid

0 implied HN points • 05 Jan 24
  1. Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) can provide biased and uninformative predictions on nuclear reactor safety.
  2. Predicting long-run proportions and rates relies on assumptions that may not account for unforeseen events.
  3. The use of PRA in nuclear safety regulation may be influenced by the commercial nuclear industry's desire to take more risks for greater profits.

6 episodes out! The BeyondHarm Podcast, Subscribe & now, Listen

0 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
  1. The BeyondHarm Newsletter is now available as a podcast.
  2. The podcast covers topics like climate change, infrastructure failures, and safety politics.
  3. Subscribe to the BeyondHarm Podcast for engaging discussions on risk and safety.
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A new FAA safety standard?

0 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
  1. Air travel is statistically safer than automobile travel, with significantly fewer fatalities.
  2. Regulators should not base safety standards solely on the number of fatalities, but must focus on preventing potential fatal accidents.
  3. NTSB regulators should proactively address safety concerns, such as investigating and correcting design deviations in commercial aviation.

7 episodes out! The BeyondHarm Podcast, Subscribe & now, Listen

0 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
🎙 Podcasts Environment Politics Safety
  1. The BeyondHarm Podcast offers a convenient way to engage with discussions on risk, community, and politics in a succinct format.
  2. The Podcast covers diverse topics like environmental justice, climate change, and infrastructure safety, providing valuable insights from HazTechRisk.org and Jim Bratton.
  3. The BeyondHarm Newsletter is aimed at addressing safety concerns by creating information symmetry among citizens, government, industry, and regulatory agencies.

Gimme Danger

0 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
  1. The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) includes a provision for the use of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) in licensing new Advanced Nuclear Reactors.
  2. The NEI lobbied for the use of PRA to lower cost burdens of the NRC's General Design Criteria, without fully understanding how to interpret PRA results.
  3. The reliance on PRA, based on flawed mathematical interpretations, may have unintended consequences in evaluating reactor safety efficacy, potentially impeding nuclear energy advancements.

BeyondHarm Changes & Updates

0 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
  1. Starting this week, BeyondHarm will be released every Wednesday with more coverage later in the week.
  2. The growth of BeyondHarm and HazTechRisk.Org aims to create space for new ventures, collaborations, and ideas.
  3. Recent reports highlight that air travel may be safer than automobile travel.

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) 's growing popularity with regulators & industries - A behind the scenes view

0 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🔬 Science Risk Assessment Physics Mathematics Regulation
  1. Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) predicts the 'frequency' of industrial accidents, but this can be misleading as it does not reveal how soon the next accident might occur.
  2. PRA has limitations due to its optimistic bias, which leads to under-predicting accident rates because it ignores important factors like climate change and technology wear-out.
  3. An alternative to PRA would be using Prescriptive Protection Design Requirements, which have been historically successful in ensuring safety without relying on probability mathematics.

So how Risky is it?

0 implied HN points • 31 Jul 23
  1. Having a consistent taxonomy for communicating about risk is crucial from local to global levels.
  2. Risk education should not be compartmentalized but should be integrated into civic education.
  3. Understanding and managing risk involves identifying trade-offs and empowering the public to question the status quo.