Quantifying residual risk

Once the trials risks have been identified and the RRMs have been employed there will still be a certain amount of residual risk which is then quantified. This will then lead to the trial being categorized as high, medium, or low risk. The main reason for allocating a category of risk is to alert the responsible senior officer to those trials which require particularly careful supervision. One definition of risk categories used at the UK test establishment at Boscombe Down is as follows:

• Low risk: the residual risk is no higher than normal peacetime flying.

• Medium risk: there is an increased risk of injury to crews or damage to the aircraft over normal operations.

• High risk: there is an increased chance of loss of life or loss of an aircraft.

1.2.2 Trials documentation

Part of the planning process which is often not given sufficient attention, is the technical documentation and reporting requirement. All the documents needed to conduct the trial safely require definition. These include TIs, instrumentation schedules, limitations documents, and risk assessments. In most test establishments the manage­ment procedures call for these documents and define their content. The eventual trials report or reports also require identification early in the planning stage.