Recent work has focused on low-probability, high-consequence risk assessment and subsequent tasks will develop risk models that address overall hazmat transportation risk as well as mode-specific models.

FACTOR leads our team’s technical risk assessment work in helping DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Safety Management System develop an approach to identify the most significant multi-modal hazmat transportation hazards and their potential consequences. The framework assesses the likelihood of incidents with different consequence severities, determines their relative risks, supports management of the risks through sound application of countermeasures to reduce probability or mitigate consequences, and systematically provides the means to monitor the ongoing performance.

We leveraged different hazmat incident databases in our approach, including extensive analysis of data within the PHMSA Hazardous Materials Incident Reporting System (HMIRS), FRA Rail Accident/Incident Reporting System (RAIRS), FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES).