ALARP and the Risk Management of Civil Unmanned Aircraft

Clothier, R. A., Williams, B. P., Fulton, N. L. and Lin, X.

Key to the continued growth of the civil Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) aviation sector is the development of a regulatory framework that will provide assurances in the management of the risks associated with their operation. Decisions in relation the evaluation and treatment of aviation risks need to be made in accordance with the As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) framework. There are a number of concerns in relation to the application of the ALARP framework to new technologies. This paper explores these concerns with respect to the risk management of civil UAS. A review of the ALARP frameworks defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Australia), the Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom) and by the UK Health and Safety Executive is presented. This review identified subtle differences that can have a significant impact on how ALARP frameworks would be applied to UAS. A number of inconsistencies in the frameworks were also identified. These issues aside, it was found that a conceptual application of an ALARP framework can be made. However, significant difficulties were identified in the substantiation of a framework. In particular, the quantification of the decision criteria for UAS, the handling of uncertainty, and the identification, characterisation and representation of societal concerns within a framework. Guidance as to how the dimensions of societal concern and levels of risk can be jointly considered within an ALARP framework could not be identified within the literature. For new technologies such as UAS, these dimensions can be as significant a factor in decision-making as that of the quantified measures of the risk. Due to these deficiencies, there are significant difficulties in the application and substantiation of an ALARP framework to the risk management of new technologies such as UAS.

Cite as: Clothier, R. A., Williams, B. P., Fulton, N. L. and Lin, X. (2013). ALARP and the Risk Management of Civil Unmanned Aircraft. In Proc. Australian System Safety Conference (ASSC 2013) Adelaide, Australia. CRPIT, 151. Cant, T. Eds., ACS. 3-13

(from crpit.com) (local if available)