Abstract
Aim: This paper describes the methodology for analysing the societal risk involved in road transport of dangerous goods.
Project and methods: Spatial data covering the whole territory of Poland were used to determine the level of risk involved in the transport of dangerous goods by road. The GIS software and PostgreSQL database with a POSTGIS extension were employed to process this data. The risk analysis was based on a matrix which included an accident-likelihood assessment and a consequence assessment for communities living near national roads. The likelihood assessment included the recorded locations of accidents involving explosive dangerous goods (in the years 2010–2015), the spatial distribution of parking areas with spaces intended for vehicles carrying explosive dangerous goods, the condition of pavements on national roads and whether these roads have partial or no grade separation, or full grade separation. The paper also presents a methodology for the selection of fire-service operations involving tanker lorries carrying explosive dangerous goods. The statistics of the abovementioned accidents are also discussed. The consequence assessment takes into account the specific population density around national roads within a radius of up to 1,000 meters. The assessments were undertaken individually for each national-road section with a length of up to 1 km. The individual stages of these assessments were visualised as maps covering all national roads in Poland.
Results: The study has established the level of societal risk associated with the transport of explosive dangerous goods for all national-road sections. The results of the study could help to make better-informed planning decisions regarding dangerous-goods routes.
Conclusions: In the conclusions section, the paper describes the measures to mitigate the societal risk associated with road transport of dangerous goods. The conclusions also include recommendations to optimise the methodology used in the risk analysis.
Keywords: road transport, dangerous goods, risk analysis, likelihood assessment, consequence assessment, explosion hazard, population density
Type of article: original scientific article