DNV has been a global leader in the development of robust risk-based assessment and decision support methods. These address hazard identification, consequence assessment, likelihood estimation and risk-based decision support. Risk-based processes deliver well beyond compliance requirements, and often at less overall life-cycle cost through innovative solutions.

Purpose

Risk-based decision support allows risks to be evaluated in a structured manner considering feasible events, consequences and likelihoods and allows prioritizing risks in a manner that maximizes risk reduction at economic cost and meets regulatory requirements where applicable.

Benefits

DNV brings together competence and a wide range of disciplines to assist in critical decision processes. Throughout all stages of an investment, from idea conception and concept selection, design and operation to decommissioning and recycling, stakeholders demand that risks are understood and effectively managed. While primarily focused on the assessment of risk to personnel, studies can normally be extended to assess financial risks associated with asset damage and loss of production.

We recognise the need for cost-effective risk management and draw on previous experience and our integrated services to deliver value to our clients. By providing a range of tailored consequence assessment principles and techniques, we enable our clients to understand their threats and opportunities. These include:

• Identification of hazards
• An understanding of business performance from the perspective of risk exposures
• Quantification of consequences and risks
• Increased understanding of ‘risk drivers’
• Engineering decision support to determine optimum solutions for modifications
• Identification of cost-effective risk reduction measures
• The transfer of ‘lessons learned’ from other industries and companies.
  

Our approach

Our specialists include globally recognized experts. They use suitable methods and a mixture of in-house and industry-standard modelling tools to analyze problems to a depth that matches their potential risk and complexity. The main elements of our services relate to all of the parts in a traditional risk diagram, and they can be applied at any stage in a project lifecycle:

• Conceptual design
• Detailed design
• Approvals and public meetings
• Operations phase
• Facility modifications and improvements
• Abandonment.

Typical services include:

• Identification of all credible hazards or threats to operations, along with a list of critical control measures and development of a risk register
• Layers of protection analysis and safety integrity levels
• Consequence assessments, in order to evaluate the impact of potential undesirable events including fire and explosion assessments, toxic gas dispersion and business interruption
• Likelihood estimation for potential events based on historical data and frequency modelling
• Risk assessments at different levels of detail (qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative)
• Development of risk-based and cost-effective solutions and decision support together with our customers
• Training in risk assessment approaches for industry representatives.

DNV uses in-house developed tools, several of which have become industry standards, such as PHAST, SAFETI, LEAK, SOQRATES, WOAD and Orbit SIL. We are deeply involved in the development of new computer tools for risk analysis – the next-generation risk framework which will step beyond the design and safety engineer’s desk and out into the real workplace.